Business Pathways: Where we came from and where we are going

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 64, No. 8, October 2022, Page 343 News
By: Holly Pastoral

The Business Pathways program (www.doctorsofbc.ca/business-pathways) was initiated by Doctors of BC in response to physician members asking for more information on how to run the business side of their practice.

The Doctors of BC Board of Directors prioritized this work to provide physicians with the business resources and information they needed. Initially, the organization interviewed physicians from across the province in both urban and rural settings to identify business challenges and opportunities to provide clarification. Physicians who were interviewed identified the following as areas of top concern: managing fixed costs, contracts (noncompensation related), billing education and audit prevention, taxes, and human-resource guidance.

This process generated a gap analysis that indicated a need to develop new resources, consolidate important business-related resources from key health care and government partners, and house them in a single easy-to-find location. Business Pathways has started to address these needs by creating new toolkits, resources, and information physicians can access from the website.

Supporting you throughout your career

Business Pathways resources are categorized into three sections to support each stage of a physician’s career: starting in practice, managing your office, and closing your practice.

Each section contains information, resources, and customizable templates to help doctors begin to organize their operational tasks, including finding new job opportunities, applying for a licence, incorporating a business, hiring and maintaining staff, planning for emergencies, and preparing for retirement.

Saving on business services

To provide physicians with cost savings in their business operations, Business Pathways has negotiated discounted rates on legal, financial, and professional management services through Club MD, a Doctors of BC program that provides exclusive discounts and deals for members. To keep up-to-date on Club MD offerings, sign up for the monthly newsletter at www.doctorsofbc.ca/account/subscriptions (member login required).

Leading your practice teams

The human resource toolkit (www.doctorsofbc.ca/human-resources-toolkit) is a step-by-step guide created through consultations with family doctors and specialists in both urban and rural communities to support physicians with hiring, managing, and terminating staff. The toolkit includes practical and customizable templates and tools, and information that can be adapted to suit the needs of any clinic, in three easy-to-navigate sections:

  • Hiring and onboarding
  • Managing staff and the work environment
  • Ending employment

Preparing for an emergency

The contingency planning toolkit (www.doctorsofbc.ca/contingency-planning) was developed, with input from the Emergency and Public Safety Committee and a physician consultation group, to help doctors prepare their practices and personal affairs for unexpected emergencies, ranging from natural disasters to office damage and physician illness. Since all businesses in British Columbia are required by WorkSafeBC to have an emergency plan, the toolkit helps doctors meet this requirement by supporting them to create a business continuity plan for their clinic.

New resources in the toolkit provide information on how to notify staff, patients, and other key partners during an adverse event, create a plan to streamline processes during a crisis, identify essential services, and ensure timely retrieval of critical records.

Connecting with us

Business Pathways is continually developing resources to help physicians as a practical one-stop shop for navigating business needs. Through robust discussions and feedback from our Doctors of BC colleagues, physician consultation groups, government, and all BC physicians, the Business Pathways program is committed to ensuring the information and supports provided by the program are useful and valuable to members.

Physicians can keep up-to-date with new releases from the Business Pathways program by:

  • Subscribing to DocTalks: A Doctors of BC podcast for short episodes from physicians and other experts about topics that doctors will find practical and useful as they run their business. All episodes can be found at www.doctorsofbc.ca/doctalks.
  • Reading the Business Corner (www.doctorsofbc.ca/business-corner), which features articles on a variety of practical topics about business operations.
  • Participating in educational webinars. Past sessions have focused on topics such as preventing physical and online violence for doctors, optimizing safety with WorkSafeBC, and need-to-know information about incorporating a practice (www.doctorsofbc.ca/managing-your-practice/business-pathways/virtual-events).

We value your feedback, comments, questions, and suggestions. Visit the Business Pathways Contact Us page (www.doctorsofbc.ca/business-pathways/contact-us) to submit a query.
—Holly Pastoral
Program Manager, Physician Business Services

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Holly Pastoral. Business Pathways: Where we came from and where we are going. BCMJ, Vol. 64, No. 8, October, 2022, Page(s) 343 - News.


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