How an OKC entrepreneur is training physicians to be “business savvy”

(OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) Jamie Spann has evolved around medical care her whole life. Her father is a private practice maxillofacial surgeon, which led her to work in the medical sales industry for more than 15 years. 

Spann’s entrepreneurial career began after a few years working for a medical supply distributor, when she realized physician needs weren’t being met by her employer. 

“Physicians are getting paid less and less all the time from insurance companies,” Spann said. “They're the ones with the degrees. They're the ones prescribing the products, they're the ones who have the patient.” 

So, Spann decided to set out on her own. Along the way, she realized another physician need was not being met. 

“They come out of school, and they don't know anything about business,” Spann said. “And so because physicians are close to my heart, I just wanted to work on fixing that problem, and figure out a way to help educate physicians on the business side of things.”

Spann told VNN she knows residents and young physicians just coming out of medical school have a lot of debt and not a lot of money, so she created an affordable online course to help train aspiring private practice physicians to be business savvy. 

“I think most people come out of residency and go straight into hospital employment because they don't know how to run a practice, they don't know how to start a practice, they don't know anything about the business,” Spann said. “And the hospitals are saying, hey, come to us, we'll take care of all that, you don't have to worry about anything.” 

But while working in a hospital has its perks, Spann said, so does private practice. 

“I think at some point, the hospitals may outgrow the physicians and physicians outgrow the hospitals,” Spann said. “And that is sometimes when physicians kind of want to go off on their own. Where they have more independence, they don't have to maybe work as hard, or they're getting paid more for working hard.”

“You don't have to answer to all these political decisions that are made that may not be in the best interest of the patient or the physicians. It's just political, and a lot of times hospitals have that problem.”

Launched in November 2019, Business Savvy Physician is designed for physicians from zero to nine years after medical school, whether they’ve already started their private practice or not. 

Their series of short videos educate physicians on topics such as hiring staff, purchasing different types of insurance, investments, and real estate. They also offer consultation services. 

Spann said what she loves most about working for herself is the ebb and flow of meeting industry demands, which allows her to work hard when she needs to but also take breaks for herself, and her family. 

“You've learned to embrace those slow times and be able to take a step back and work more on your mental health and on your physical health, and just remember that there's going to be times in the future where it's going to be really busy and crazy,” Spann said. “Embrace the slow times, be with the family more. I like the freedom knowing that if my three-year-old needs to come out of day care, I can go get her and if we want to just go have a Play Day, we can.” 

For any physicians out there looking to embrace and grow their private practice, Business Savvy Physicians is now offering a 20 percent discount on their videos with coupon code BSPNEWS

Spann said they are also working on partnering with residency programs to educate more physicians on how to be business savvy. 

For more information about Business Savvy Physician, click here.