leaving a traditional healthcare practice? now what?

It is important for healthcare professionals to be aware of and understand the ever-evolving and expanding non-traditional health-related areas and roles of practice.

It has been well described that healthcare professionals are considering, and many actually leaving, their traditional clinical roles.  The Elsevier Health report, “Clinician of the Future: a 2022 Report”, estimated that one third of current healthcare professionals will consider leaving their current roles by 2024 and one half of these individuals are contemplating leaving healthcare permanently.  There are many factors contributing to this alarming estimate and these considerations are beyond the scope of the current article, although of critical importance.  Factors associated with this situation have been discussed in further detail in past articles in this series.

While many healthcare professionals are seriously considering leaving the profession, their interest in health-related content and issues may lead them towards redefining their clinical roles and responsibilities or exploring other areas through which they can provide their expertise to patients, clients, and other colleagues.  It is worth discussing some of the many available options so that any healthcare professionals who are in this situation can have additional information with which to consider their options.

Many current healthcare professionals would like to continue caring for patients, however would like to practice in a different capacity.  This can be accomplished through a redefinition of the type of clinical practice one may choose to provide.  Outside of the traditional clinical realms, it is possible to establish a concierge care type of practice in which fewer patients are treated in a given length of time, however more comprehensive care is provided including additional time to discuss pertinent health issues and answer questions.  This type of practice can be conducted independently or as part of a group.  It can also be provided in person or via telehealth platforms.  This option provides greater autonomy and flexibility with respect to the nature of practice one may wish to provide.

Another popular option is health coaching and/or consulting.  Within this paradigm, the health-related expertise developed by the healthcare professional can be employed to provide individualized information, resources, and guidance to clients for the purposes of improving and optimizing health and wellbeing.  While the pursuit of health and wellbeing is being utilized in this example, coaching or consulting for clients could be around any topics or domains of interest and expertise.  The coaching approach is typically one in which the client is led on a process of self-discovery to reach an objective while consulting typically involves providing more direct recommendations to achieve the desired goals and objectives.

A variation on the previous health coaching and consulting option is one in which a similar paradigm is utilized to help other healthcare professionals achieve practice related goals.  These may include increasing patient volumes, improving efficiency in patient care or documentation, as well as many other aspects specific to healthcare provision.  The added lived experience that healthcare professionals can bring to this domain can greatly benefit their clients.

Many healthcare professionals who choose to leave direct patient care but wish to continue to utilize their expertise and training, may select a consulting role with a health-related company.  This may relate either to selling of products or services or take more of an educational or advisory role.  It is possible to join existing companies as well as start a new company as a health-related entrepreneur.  In all permutations of this option, it is remains possible to impact the health and lives of others while drawing from past training and expertise.

Another option is the utilization of health-related content expertise for creating information in the form of articles, blogs, or social media content.  This form of copywriting is well suited for healthcare professionals because of their content expertise and more comprehensive understanding of the healthcare domain than those without a similar background.  The in-depth knowledge combined with practical experience available to healthcare professionals can provide additional depth of content and applicability of information to consumers of this content.

As can be readily appreciated from the above discussion there are many health-related roles and domains which healthcare professionals can pursue if they choose to leave a traditional clinical practice.  While the specifics and nature of these, as well as other, options may differ there is the similarity that growth and development of the chosen role or practice is essential.  There are many elements which factor into such a process.  One common factor is the need, in the current culture, to develop a social media platform, at least to some degree.  There are many benefits and advantages to health-related social media which have been reviewed in further detail in previous articles.

When developing a health-related social media platform, it is highly advantageous to work with a social media team that has a background in healthcare.  Due to the inherent nature of health-related practices, their respective niches, and medicolegal considerations, healthcare trained social media management is preferable.  The added understanding available within such a team can ensure that the social media strategy is appropriate not only to the platform but to the practice and its target audience while maintaining appropriate and necessary healthcare specific standards.

The objective of House Call Media is to provide healthcare trained social media management and evidence-driven content development to healthcare professionals in order to help grow and develop their social media platforms in the promotion of the traditional or non-traditional clinical roles and practices.  To learn more, please visit www.housecallmedia.com.

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To learn more about the healthcare trained services provided by House Call Media, please visit www.housecallmedia.com. 

REFERENCE

Elsevier Health.  Clinician of the Future: A 2022 Report.  https://www.elsevier.com/connect/clinician-of-the-future.  Last Accessed March 6, 2023.