Dr. Tea  0:01  

Practicing medicine without insurance is possible. Imagine a private practice where you get to see your best patients every day, providing medical services you truly enjoy, all without the hassle of insurance. My name is Dr. Tea Nguyen, and I'm a recovering specialist who was completely burned out from insurance based medicine. I pivoted into direct care, where patients pay me directly for my medical services, and have never looked back. If you're a private practice owner or planning to become one who's looking to be free of the grind of insurance and you're craving it, simplicity, efficiency and connection with patients, you are in the right place. This podcast will help you map out your exit plan and uncover the mindset needed to thrive in today's economy. Welcome to the Direct Care Podcast For Specialists. 

Dr. Tea  0:54  

If you've never owned a business before, there are three things you have to master. So even if you do own a business and you want to elevate that. These are three core principles that you have to master. And it takes practice. It takes the daily intention to fight it with your every fiber in order for you to elevate to the next level. And I apologize if you hear whistling in the background. There's a lot of wind out my window. I have no control over what I'm currently recording here in Chicago where I'm going to be giving a presentation about direct care. And so I thought, hey, why not make a recording for a podcast for you? So okay, let's get back to the three things that you have to master in order to have a successful practice. Number one, stop caring about the opinions of others, you just have to. I will elaborate. Number two, do not take business things personally. And then number three, connection to other humans is everything. So let's break it down. The first part, not caring about the opinions of others, that's very hard, and too many people are relying on what others think. They are waiting for the validations of others. They are on social media, craving the likes, craving the comments, craving the feedback, and especially doctors, because let's be real, our egos are very fragile when someone tells us we are wrong about some medical information we learned about like we kind of feel a bruise, right? We went through a lot to know what we know, and I know that when you earn certain things, you're going to get praise for that, right? That's the structure of our medical education. You are prized by your achievement. That's how people select candidates for jobs, for residencies, for fellowships and so on. Right? We rely heavily on achievements, and it punishes those who are too different or they threaten the status quo. And I know this because I got threatened many times, on many levels, because I was not the status quo. And I got threatened with losing my job, for instance, as a resident in painful times. But yeah, if you stand out, if you're different, it's gonna hurt other egos, because, again, egos are fragile, and especially in medicine, it's ingrained in our training to care about what others think about us, including the patients who weaponize online reviews. I remember the first time I got a negative online review. I was very offended. I was like, There's no way I did the best I could. I know all the things. I answered their question, but it came back as they felt dismissed. 

Dr. Tea  3:33  

I don't know why people here feel what they want to feel. So anyway, I was offended that was my first and last time, because I realized I have no control over that situation, whether it was factual or not. You know, you just gotta let it go. Do you not care about others' opinions? Because that will stop you from doing what you need to do in your business. So listen, if you're gonna exist as a business, if you're going to have big, lofty goals, there's going to be insecure people coming out from the woodworks who are going to feel threatened and they're going to hate on you, period. That's a statement. If you are aiming for big goals, there will be haters, and that is a good thing, because it means you're doing something that most people are unwilling to do. You are chasing your goals, and many people are not going to do that, and so they're going to try to drag others down. It always seems like the people who are doing less seem to have so much to say because they're literally not doing anything for themselves. They're busy pulling others down to their level because they're not working on their dreams, and then they feel terrible about themselves. About themselves, and they want others to feel terrible too. So don't waste your time getting distracted by what others are thinking. The opinions that they have are their own. You have to detach from it. They're miserable. So let them be. You will always find that people. Who wants to see you succeed will actually help you so align yourself with that. And this takes practice. It takes intuition. It takes you reading people and just feeling that energy of those you are choosing to hang around with. So you have to be intentional about your energy and how you determine if somebody is good company or not, it's simply that you sit with them, you leave. How do you feel? Do you feel drained? Because if you feel drained, that's a good indication that they're not great company to have all the time. Or do you feel refreshed or enlightened? Those people you want to hang around a lot, because those are the ones that are going to allow you to dream in such a way where you're like, Whoa, I get to dream out loud and not be judged or criticized for that. This is awesome. And so then you create a whole world for yourself when you are intentional about who you allow in it. So realize there are always going to be haters. If you have a goal, you will have a hater. If you don't have a goal, you will still have a hater. There's just a bunch of haters out there. Okay, don't get distracted with it. You can just say to yourself, what they have, what they feel, what they think, what they say, is not my concern. I have no control over any of that. I can only control myself, how I feel, what I say, and what I do, and I am doing important work. Okay, when you set lofty goals, you will constantly be distracted. There will always be something to steal your attention, and it's through this discipline of you recognizing that you can only control what you think, feel and do you can't control anybody else. Let that go. Let that incessant need to control others. Let it go. It's going to kill you. It's going to drag you down in your business. Stop caring about the opinions of others is irrelevant. If you continue to allow the opinions of others to carry you through life, to motivate you, to demotivate you, their opinions, either good or bad, if they flip, will also affect you, so that means you will always be under their control, whether they like you or not. So it's so important to get this cleared away right away, that you should not care about the opinions of others, especially if they're not where you want to be. It's very simple. Now I say simple because I can say it, but to do it like it hurts. You know, when the first time you get a negative review, like, yeah, I got bruised a little bit, and then I bounced back, and then I realized it's a numbers game, right? Every time I get a negative review, boo hoo, I'll get 100 more good ones. And I need you to start thinking about shifting the balance. You can't avoid negative things, but you can shift the balance, where you have more positives than negatives. So life is a balance. 

Dr. Tea  8:07  

You will always have haters, but you can control how you feel about that situation, and hopefully you detach and say, doesn't matter. I got to do what I got to do. The second thing is, is to not take business things personally. So going back to negative Google reviews, we are so tortured by them, because it's such a new thing. And keyboard warriors, they're just going to type away. They will never have the courage to tell you to your face that there was a problem. They're going to walk away smiling, and you're going to think everything was great, and then suddenly they build up the courage to type some words, and then you find a negative online review, and then you feel this heavy weight crushing on you because you had no idea you were like, I literally did my best. 

Dr. Tea  8:54  

What more could I do? And I think I saw a meme online where a doctor saved some guy's life, and a guy wrote, you know, I saved the doctor saved my life four stars, and the doctor responds, I literally don't know how to get five stars, so we don't know. Okay, so if it kills you to read Google reviews, don't read them. Just know that you got to get them if you're trying to be present online, to have a digital footprint so people can find you, but it's really important to just recognize it's not part of you. Yes, if they're negative and you can fix it, let's fix it. But if they're negative because they're mad that you don't take insurance, they're mad that you have paperwork as a business, whatever, then you can just ignore that goes straight in the trash like a mental mental note, right? You can't delete these online unfortunately, but whatever freedom of speech people need to say, what they need to say, but being easily offended is going to hurt you. It's going to slow you down, because it's going to stop you from doing what you truly want to do because you're. Going to be consumed about that fear that it's going to hurt you or it's going to make you feel a certain way, and then you take it personally. And I don't know if this is going to make you feel any better, but if people are typing stuff online like they're going to also say things offline too, and you have no control over that, if you did your best, you're as nice as you can possibly be. You maintain professionalism. You're done. You did your best. And if people can't appreciate that, or if you see something else, or if they're trying to get something from you, like they're weaponizing a negative review so they can get what they want, like, screw that. Okay, you're not a widget. You're a human being. You've got feelings, but you also got a business to work on. Right? Going back to the first lesson, say to yourself, I am doing important work. Do not take it personally. If something happens it doesn't go in your favor. Don't think it's about you as a human being. An example I see is if you are making the effort to meet other doctors and they don't refer to you like don't make it a thing. It's not personal. You really do have to control your thoughts. That's the secret sauce in business ownership. You have to step away from what you think that others are thinking. 

Dr. Tea  11:23  

You know, don't play mind reader, but just walk away and detach yourself and say, okay, they just didn't refer. Move on. Move on to building that referral list that you need to keep building. Anyway, It's ongoing. Don't rely on the one, the two, the few who used to because you took insurance and now you don't take insurance. There are so many people out there who can help you, who are willing to help you. If you take it personally that a certain doctor doesn't refer to you anymore, you're killing time. You are slowing yourself down because now you're consumed with stuff you have no control over. So it's very important to recognize that business is not personal. Business is business. You do the work, and sometimes you just got to do more of it. You got to switch strategies, try different things, try different people. It's ongoing. It's not personal. And I can't even begin to tell you how I felt in the beginning when I told doctors I wasn't taking insurance, and I kind of, in my mind, wish that they would continue to send patients. And the reality is, their workflow just isn't designed for that. Like, their workflow is often a button on a computer, and if you're not within the system, your name is not in the computer, so it's like extra work for them, and it's okay, like, that's fine. I found other people who would refer to me, so that's kind of where I focus my attention. And you really, truly have to know and feel that there is an abundance of opportunities out there. So business is a numbers game. Don't take it personally. Build your 100 referral sources so that it can work, and over time, you'll see you'll hit a tipping point, and then what they call a snowball effect, it'll eventually just start flowing in really easily for you. So don't get distracted. It's not helpful. Now the last thing here, connection, connection to people is everything. Businesses that are successful, the ones that thrive, are very well connected within their community. So it's not just the people you treat, but also the social connections that they have access to and other businesses. So think about community events where you can show up, give a lecture and show the world who you are and how you can help. That's business exposures, that's opportunities, that's connections that you may not know you'll have until you actually do it. You can't always predict what will happen in these events, so these are intentional things that you can start inserting yourself into, so that you become top of mind, you become part of another person's awareness, so that they think about you when the time is right. In direct care, you also have more time to connect with that individual in your exam room. So I mentioned in the past, in the insurance based practice, it's not uncommon to spend seven minutes on average with the patient in direct care, I'm spending 30 minutes, 60 minutes with the patient. So there's a lot of opportunities to talk about their whole life story, if they really wanted to. And it's entertaining, because I do treat a population of geriatric patients, which I adore, and so I get to learn a lot from them, and they're also teaching me about the stuff that they know. So that's the connection that is talking to your patients as if you're not rushing to get to the next patient. Patients really do appreciate that. Oftentimes, they ask my patients what they're currently working on or what they enjoy talking about, and then I give them all of my attention in that appointment. So. Let them talk. Nothing makes a person happier than listening to what they love talking about. So when I'm giving them a treatment that takes 30 minutes, 45 minutes, for example, and I'm trying to distract them from a needle or something that I'm doing, I encourage them to talk. I want them to talk more than me. I don't want to hear me the whole time. And if you pick up the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, it tells you exactly how to do that, How to Win Friends and Influence People. And one of the things is to allow the other person to talk about what they enjoy. And it's the easiest thing to do to just sit there and listen to people. People are too eager to not listen. And I don't know what the issue is. You've got two years of one mouth. 

Dr. Tea  15:43  

You got to listen twice as hard as you speak. So keep that in mind. Let them talk more. They will love you more. It's not that you talk more and you talk more about yourself and your credentials and your achievements. That's a snooze fest, unless they're asking, of course, so turn the mic and put it on them, highlight them, let them talk about themselves, ask them questions, get curious about them, and they will love you. They will love me so much that they're going to be so eager to talk to you next time I have the patient in particular that I'm thinking about who will tell me all of her drama in her life. And I find it to be hilarious because it's such a small community. I know all her family members, they all come to see me, and so when she starts talking about whatever issue is going on, it's always a To be continued until the next visit, because I see these patients on a monthly basis. So it becomes my soap opera hour, and it's great. It's fun. So I want you to really think about different ways you can connect with your community without asking for anything in return. It could be a sponsorship, a donation, a lecture. It could be something very simple, I have my staff doing some community events because I'm going to be out of town, and so utilizing my staff and asking, Hey, can you table an event? Will still make you present. So if you yourself can't do it, you can ask your staff to be the connector for your business. And if you have a marketing team, even better have somebody to make those connections for you. Drop off a card say, Hey, do you want to have lunch with Dr so and so? If they say yes, go have lunch with them. We'll grab coffee. And I don't know if I shared this with you, but I recently found out that I won the Readers Choice best podiatrist award for the fourth time, fourth time. I've only been in business for six years, and I've been recognized for out of the six years, and I think that is so crazy, because it's not about being the best, like technically savvy doctor, right? It's a popular game. How did I get so popular? Well, I'm on social media. I'm everywhere. I'm in the community. I try to help others, right? So I'm doing all of these things, and I never really ask for specific things in return. I just do it as part of karma. I truly believe in karma, so the more that I give, the more that I receive the trait to these top three key elements that you have to master, and not caring about the opinions of others, not taking business things personally, and then connecting within your community is to make your mission so big that you don't have time for anything else. You don't have time for nonsense. If people want to have an opinion that is not your business, your business is your business, the thing you have to grow. So what's an example of a mission? Well, it could be to help as many people as possible. I think that's a fair mission for a medical practice to have, especially direct care practice, where you have more time with people, you are connecting. You're giving meaningful work. 

Dr. Tea  18:55  

And the more you do that, the more you are out there letting people know how you can help. You think about this mission top of mind, to help as many people as possible, then you have no choice but to focus on yourself, to focus on the growth of your business. So by focusing on what you need to do, everything else becomes white noise, and this takes practice. So every time you find yourself with a negative thought, catch it actively, say out loud. That's not helpful to think, and then celebrate the fact that you caught it. Sometimes we live on autopilot, and we just assume the thoughts that we have is just what it is. But we can actually correct it. We can actually create new neural networking in how we think, but it takes the active action to stop it, to interrupt it and to create a new dialog. When you intentionally change your thoughts, you can absolutely change your life. Thanks so much for being here with me. I'll catch you again next week. Take care. 

Dr. Tea  20:00  

If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a review and share it with a friend so more doctors can learn about direct care. Let's keep the conversation going on LinkedIn so we can help more doctors escape insurance and thrive in private practice. Thanks for listening. I'll talk with you next time, take care.