Dr. Clark is booking out 90 days for both clinic and surgery. She averages around 40 referrals per day, so the need here is very present. On average she sees 18 patients per day in clinic and two of those patients are booked into surgery. The most frequent cases in this practice are rhinology cases (polyp and sinus), thyroids and carotids, head and neck cancers, and tonsillectomies. On average, she is diagnosing at least 4 cancers per week.
For an incoming ENT, the typical work week would be clinic 4 days per week (8:30am-4pm) and operating one half day per week. They have a block schedule with great OR access. Dr. Clark started with one half day per week operating and quickly started filling up to reach one full day per week. Now, she operates 1.5 days per week and easily got that time in the OR. She
Call - Sierra Vista Medical Center is a level III trauma center, but functions as more of a level II trauma center. Dr. Clark is on call Monday through Friday in the ER. She has elected to take this much call; it was not a requirement for her to be on call so frequently. Dr. Clark said that call is manageable because the ER physicians are very well trained. There are no midlevels, so physicians are the ones calling, which has created a better call culture. She only gets about one call per night, and actually goes into the hospital to see a patient 2-4 times per week. It is not a super busy call, and every day of call reimburses at $650 a night. For an incoming physician, the expectation would be to take 7-10 nights of call per month. Facial Trauma is not part of the call.
There is little competition in this community. The primary competitor in the area is Dignity Health. They employ a general ENT, Dr. David Levin who is the primary competition in the area. Dr. Lisa Molin is also employed through Dignity and is about 10 years from retirement. She only does nuanced surgeries, like small sinus cases, thyroids, and canalplasties. In south county, there is a facial plastic trained ENT Dr/ Raymund Llaurado his practice is primarily cosmetics. In north county, there is another provider Dr. Murton, who practiced Head and Neck and Plastic Surgery, and 1 year from retirement and does not do any surgeries, he only sees patients in clinic. He has started referring his current patients to Dr. Clark.