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This episode of the Consultant’s Corner series features one of MGMA’s newest consultants, Jessica Minesinger, CMOM, CMPE, FACMPE. Minesinger, who has run her own consulting firm for 12 years, brings a wealth of experience in physician compensation and an entrepreneurial approach to problem solving.
Editor’s note: The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Give us the 411 on Surgical Compensation and Consulting.
A: I'm a compensation consultant for physicians as well as small practices. While I've worked with many physicians of different specialties, I specialize in working with surgeons and small surgical groups. As a woman-owned company, we're really focused and committed to ensuring pay equity for our clients. You know, female physicians earn about $2 million less throughout their careers than their male counterparts. And for female surgeons, that's estimated to be $2.5 million. And that's just unacceptable. So we're mission driven, to remedy that disparity for our clients. And for goodness sakes, we have the data and the tools to do that. So that's a real passion of ours.
Q: In researching you, I found that you own a restaurant. You seem like an entrepreneur at heart. How do you balance that on top of healthcare consulting?
A: I've been an entrepreneur since I was a kid. I mean, I love business, I love creating businesses. … I'm the co-owner of an event space called Pop Up. So we host restaurants, food trucks, small businesses, private events. And true to our tagline, it's a place where you can eat, party and shop. So over the last five years, I've developed that with my business partner. And it's just been such a rewarding project. … I think the most rewarding part is that we've launched other small businesses through that platform, especially women-owned businesses. So it's a great place to try out your menu, your product, and research the market and decide what's going to work for you before you invest in a brick and mortar spot. Really we’re an entrepreneurial launching pad, and it's been it's been a fantastic experience. And it's just sort of a continuation of being an entrepreneur.
Q: Where did this entreprenurial interest begin?
A: I incorporated my first company as a senior in college, a real estate company. And so for 27 years I've owned my own businesses, developed new businesses, and for the last 12 years, I've developed a healthcare consulting company. So I just enjoy developing and growing small businesses, addressing market needs. And I would really say that the critical trait for entrepreneurs is that outside the box thinking and problem solving. You know, Apple has a fantastic tagline and that's “Think Differently.” And I think that's what you'll find is a key trait in entrepreneurs, we think differently when it comes to the market and problem solving. And I think that's especially true in terms of healthcare today. (In the) face of provider shortages, physician burnout and turnover, if ever there was a time to take a more entrepreneurial approach to medicine, I think now's the time.
Q: You recently became an MGMA consultant. Give us a little background, how did that relationship begin?
A: I've been a member since 2011. So in those 11 years, I earned my CMPE and FACMPE credentials. And I joined MGMA during a particularly challenging negotiation that I was in with hospital administration on behalf of a surgery practice. As a consultant, I renegotiated numerous contracts for this practice, and this was relatively early in my career. And it was very apparent that, although I had some medical background and training, and a lot of business acumen that I needed, I wasn't able to negotiate with the data on a level playing field with the hospital without joining MGMA and having access to the resources that you offer. So that was the day, I remember it very clearly - I was very frustrated after that meeting, walked right back to my office and became a member. … And yes, I recently became an independent consultant with MGMA and could not be more excited to bring my knowledge, my perspectives, my expertise in physician compensation and small practice management to MGMA clients. It's really an exciting time.
Q: Give us an idea of what those relationships with your clients look like when you go out to meet with a practice. Do they already know what their pain points and challenges are?
A: To answer the first part of that question, I so enjoy working with clients and developing those relationships. And that's really the 'why' in what I do, that's just the most rewarding part - that human interaction. I have been, in my own career, very fortunate to have had great mentors, consultants in my own businesses, and coaches throughout my career. And it truly takes a village to run a successful business practice, to have an enduring and successful career. It is my passion to bring that to my consulting with clients.
And, to answer the second part of your question, in my experience, practices or individual physicians that I'm working with, they do know their pain points, and they feel it pretty acutely. I think though, in the day-to-day operation of running a practice or in the trenches of practicing medicine, you may sometimes feel overwhelmed and it's really easy to lose sight of your goals and your mission and why you went into that specialty to begin with. You can lose sight of that 30,000-foot view, which is vital, really, to driving your practice, to driving your career, and to maintaining provider engagement and growth of that practice. So as a consultant and an MGMA consultant, we lend our professional perspective and experience to address those pain points. And really to move the practice or the individual physician that I'm working with, with that 30,000-foot view, with long term goals in mind, and to really build a successful and profitable and positive working environment. I think that's, again, where the entrepreneurial spirit comes - in that sense of problem solving, of finding opportunities in challenges.
Q: Do you have a particular case study you could share with us what that looks like in practice?
A: The longest consulting arrangement I had was 10 years I spent as the senior business advisor for a trauma, acute care surgery practice and an orthopedic trauma practice, at a level two trauma center. It was sort of an entrepreneurial practice in that it was private, physician-owned but hospital-based with multiple contracts and coverage agreements and medical directors and specialties. So it was very challenging and stimulating, and just a really fascinating experience. I learned practice operations from every single perspective in that practice.
So we profitably grew that practice, we recruited and retained physicians. We negotiated successfully with administration, navigated a lot of challenges and changes over 10 years. And I think, most rewarding on a personal level is that we developed and expanded life-saving trauma programs and outreach. And because the business side of the practice was solid and stable and growing, these really talented physicians were able to focus on patient care and providing that outreach and education that was really life-saving.
Q: One of your areas of expertise is physician compensation. Do you have examples of the KPIs you look at? How do you measure these things?
A: I think in terms of the KPIs, the other challenging part of that is presenting physicians in your practice with the information that they need, while not overwhelming them, and also having the data available to address concerns that come up. I had a physician that I worked with in that practice that was very aggressive and trying to increase his compensation, and that was a constant push and pull with him, constantly wanting to renegotiate his contract and earn more. And you know, data was (helpful) in making the case to the primary practice owner who was a physician, and to this physician, of where his productivity fell in terms of compensation. So, you know, every practice is different, and the challenges that practices face in terms of billing and collections is different. (Thankfully) we have a lot of data and tools and formulas to address those, and they're logical. …
And I think right now, some of what is more challenging to diagnose and solve, but really, probably the part I enjoy most, is the human factor in practices and in hospitals. If you want to offer the best patient care, the best patient experience and outcomes, to be the most productive practice you can be - it really starts with your people, and addressing these issues, making sure that your physicians are engaged, and retaining them so that your practice isn't disrupted with the cost of turnover. So, when you meet with a practice, or you meet with an individual physician that’s struggling, I think the data piece and the financial piece are easier to deal with, in many ways, than the human aspect of really what's going on in healthcare, and the toll that that's taking on the healthcare industry, and how that affects patient care and outcomes and physician availability.
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