Philippa Kennealy MD MPH CPCC PCC

The past few years have thrust health care into the limelight, with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act (PPACA) in March 2010. And confusion has reigned ever since.

For most of us physician business owners, the beginning of a year is a time filled with hope and intention. "It's going to be a(n even) better year. I'm going to be better at X, Y and Z"! we tell ourselves.

While you can't fully anticipate what will happen in 2012, you can create the attitude that will permit you to cope with whatever comes your way.

An interview with a physician who created an electronic medical record and embraces the idea of an educated "patient consumer."

If you want to solve a problem, the best way to do so is to immerse yourself in such a way as to become an item in the problem you want to solve. Here are some other creative thought processes for the workplace.

Yes, success can be measured by the amount of money a business makes or puts in the owner's pocket. But for most successful entrepreneurs, there are many more intangibles that surface as non-quantifiable metrics of success.

There is one consistent piece of advice that physicians share in regards to being a successful entrepreneur: persist, persevere, prevail.

I am a big believer in evolution, whether it's of the world, of human beings over the span of a life or of a professional career. As a current entrepreneurial physician and business owner, I'm acutely aware that to thrive, I must evolve.

Physicians are very uncomfortable with marketing and sales, but if you want to succeed in business as an entrepreneurial physician, you must learn to sell.

Most happiness research to date has uncovered only a weak link between our satisfaction with life and either our financial condition or our accumulated possessions. So how do we increase our daily satisfaction?

As a trained and practicing emergency room physician, Dr Burger knew all too well the waste of time, money and other tight resources that went into providing urgent primary care to patients in the emergency room. And it really bothered him.

It's interesting to note that governments and nations are beginning to recognize the economic significance and impact of happiness and well-being at work.

No amount of book learning will substitute adequately for real life experience, so aspiring physician entrepreneurs should position themselves in whatever leadership capacity they can.

If you find your dreams and plans for your practice are being shelved figure out a way to make small changes to get you going in the right direction.

Many physicians often get stuck when it comes to decision making because the whole process can be fraught with anxiety and uncertainty.

I know you're really busy, and this is time-consuming grunt work, but the sooner you figure this out, the quicker you'll build true patient loyalty.

Starting an entrepreneurial physician venture is risky, but an even more risky period in the life span of your business is when it's time to expand.

What exactly makes a really good receptionist? And what can physicians do to help the receptionist succeed and feel appreciated?

Networking may seem tedious, but it's all about being open and friendly. If you're able to get one person to "know, like and trust" you, you've opened the doorway to 250 others.

Being a physician entrepreneur or medical practice owner in these uncertain economic times can be downright scary. And you are not alone - many of your entrepreneur colleagues in other industries are experiencing the same sleepless nights and nail-biting stress.

An estimated 30% to 40% of physicians are suffering from burnout, leading to them leaving their clinical jobs to teach, write books or retire early.

How to use social media to your advantage, whether you're looking for new patients or a new boss.

Even if you have help from friends, family and colleagues, at the end of the day, it's up to you to make your business work.

Having the traits of a lucky attitude may help you take action when you feel stuck.

Some of my most painful memories stem from the many goodbyes I've endured – leaving Zimbabwe after 3 glorious years in rural practice, leaving my home country South Africa to move to the US, leaving my family practice after 9 years, amongst others.

Two recent encounters with solo medical practices demonstrated to me the stark contrast between a medical practice business model stuck in the 20th century and that of one that has boldly stepped into the 21st century.

How long does one have to be a practicing physician before it becomes obvious that a clinical career isn't the right line of work? It depends. Hear how one plastic surgeon explored his passion for writing by investigating the field of medical communications ... and a new, non-clinical career was born.

Clinical medicine is becoming increasingly left-brained, organized by evidence-based medicine and guidelines. Any right-brained activities we might engage in are relegated to just a few moments of our day. How then do we then satisfy our natural human craving for creativity in our work?

As a formerly idealistic pediatrician whose eventual disappointment in clinical practice led to her leave medicine altogether, Maggie Kozel, MD, has put into words what I felt about being a practicing physician and have been unable to express adequately. I invite you to listen to my interview with Dr. Kozel, where we explore what life is like after medicine.

As physician business or medical practice owners, we are equally likely to go from youthful idealists starting out in practice, or our newly discovered nonclinical business, to blasé and even somewhat jaded practitioners of our crafts. By approaching our work instead with the Zen Buddhist concept of a "beginner's mind," it instantly reveals a marvelous perspective with which to step back and re-evaluate our businesses, and even our lives. Here's how.