Financial Management in Healthcare—The Doctor’s Journey

 

 

The financial journey of doctors is quite a rocky road. In fact, the full journey to become a doctor can create a daunting financial hole that may seem impossible to get out of. Preparation coaching, exam fees, student loans, hostel fees, recruitment charges, practice investments, and personal liabilities together add slopes and curves to the financial graph of doctors. The foundation for unlocking the nuances of healthcare industry financial trends is to grasp the ‘big picture’. 

 

A healthcare professional who blindly pursues financial goals rejects his real responsibilities of ‘healing and caring’ in the best interest of the patients and also does not come out happy on the other side. Thus, the bottom line strategy that drives financial growth in healthcare is an interplay of smart thinking, adaptability, and factors that vary throughout the professional journey. 

 

 

Basic Concepts Related to Economic Growth and Healthcare

As a recent graduate/postgraduate or a new practitioner, life may seem bleak when you start tracking your job prospects, responsibilities, and net worth. However, to correctly map the trajectory whilst balancing the occasional financial setbacks is a careful study that they don't teach in med schools. 

 

Some concepts of healthcare industry financial trends are:

 

• Assets:  Assets are things you own that bring you money. This can include investments like stocks or bonds, as well as real estate that generates rental income.

• Liabilities: Liabilities are things that take money wawy. The most common examples are debts and real estate that doesn't generate income, like your main home.

• Networth: Net worth is equal to assets after the liabilities.

 

Getting out of the red, stabilizing your professional journey, and growing thereafter is essentially the multiplication of your net worth. 

 

 

The Stages of Financial Growth in Healthcare

The conventional lifecycle of a healthcare consultant/practitioner encompasses the following stages:

Stage 1: 

Beginning of Practice: Here expenditures and loans are greater than the income.

Stage 2: 

Start of Earning: The income exceeds the expenditures, and the initial loans are about to be repaid.

Stage 3: 

Paying for dependents: This includes the growing expenses for ailing parents and children

Stage 4: 

Asset accumulation: This is the real period for investments to boost the net worth and includes FDs, LICs, real estate investments, and pension plans.

Stage 5: 

Expenses planning: This is the second bout of expenses in regard to family and personal health

Stage 6: 

Slowly sinking into the idea of retirement: Further consolidating and organizing real estate and other investments; revisiting pension plans.

 

Financial health refers to how you address, tackle, and orchestrate every stage of your professional journey in healthcare. It is vital to set 'realistic goals’ tailored to your professional and personal settings. 

 

 

The Secret Sauce to an Uphill Financial Graph in Healthcare

There are no ‘Copy and Paste’ rules that one can craft to fit the financial goals of physicians. The idea is to use the outline of the ‘secret sauce’ and make it your own, in a way that suits you. 

 

There are 3 pillars of financial growth in healthcare:

 

Protect your wealth, well.

In healthcare, every penny earned is hard-earned and a valuable asset; protecting it should be a priority. This means having a solid plan to safeguard your wealth from risks like unexpected medical costs, legal issues, or market downturns. 

 

Thus, term insurance plans, health insurance, legal protections, and diversified investments in the form of stocks, mutual funds, real estate, bonds, insurance, gold, the National Pension System, fixed deposits (FDs), and arbitrage funds are essential to keep the financial foundation secure. It’s about ensuring that your wealth is shielded so it remains intact and continues to support your long-term goals.

 

Grow your wealth, better.

Once your wealth is protected, the next step is to make it grow. 

 

This involves smart investments that generate passive income. This could be investments or healthcare-related businesses. Financial advisors discuss investments in Nifty 50, Next 50, equity funds, Midcap funds, Small cap funds, It index funds, and Bank Index funds. 

 

You can also explore side gigs within healthcare, such as consulting or telemedicine, to boost your income streams. The key is to adopt a growth mindset by continuously seeking opportunities to maximize returns and compound your wealth. In healthcare, your expertise can be a goldmine if leveraged strategically.

 

The results of wealth growth are:

 

• Attaining a FIRE number

• You leverage the power of compounding interest

• You plan your taxes better

 

Manage your wealth, the best.

Managing wealth effectively requires careful planning and expert guidance. 

 

In healthcare, where demands can be high, time is a valuable commodity. Automating your finances, hiring financial advisors, or using wealth management tools can help you track expenses, savings, and investments. Financial advisors also suggest investments such as gold, silver, GILT (Govt.), S&P and NASDAQ funds are integral to wealth management.

 

It’s not just about making money but also about optimizing how you handle it to achieve maximum efficiency and impact. Proper wealth management ensures you're making informed decisions, minimizing losses, and preparing for future growth.

 

The results of wealth management are:

 

• You are hedged against market fluctuations and currency inflations

• You have a 60% equity and 40% debt portfolio

• You can confidently design succession planning

• You have risk capital ready

 

 

Financial Growth in Healthcare with Anastomos

Financial management in healthcare is not a one-size-fits-all option, nor does it happen as planned. Despite that setting both short- and long-term goals and aligning them with your key financial priorities, healthcare professionals can steadily work toward financial success. Each day you see patients and follow your plan, you'll be making progress toward future financial security.

 

Anastomos, as India’s first healthcare providers’ network with 10 services 10 different services to bolster the careers of HCPs, offers experienced Financial Advisors (vetted and interviewed by doctors in the Anastomos team), Side-Hustle opportunities and customizable Job boards to help kickstart your financially rewarding journey in healthcare today.