Do you know Medworking? This hybrid concept between coworking and medical house allows dental practitioners to practice their art in the best conditions, without huge investments or administrative constraints. Take a guided tour.
Setting up on your own or becoming a partner, joining a health center as an employee or joining a practice as an associate... There are many options for practicing dentistry today, but they all have their advantages and disadvantages. To find the balance, there is a new formula that seems to check many boxes for practitioners, whether they are at the beginning of their career or experienced: Medworking.
In concrete terms, it is a coworking space adapted to the medical professions. You don't just rent an office and an Internet connection, but a practice equipped with a state-of-the-art treatment room and all the spaces necessary for the smooth running of the patient's journey, to which are added the services essential to the practice of the profession of dental surgeon. The objective is to simplify the installation and reduce the administrative workload of practitioners in order to offer them the best conditions for practicing dentistry.
Medworking to set up without investment
Setting up a private practice can involve a significant financial investment: between the real estate, the possible works, the equipment, the software or the human resources, it can easily represent up to 200 000€. Taking over a practice also represents a considerable cost: the selling price generally varies between 80% and 120% of the annual turnover including VAT.
Renting a treatment room (and related services) in a Medworking space allows you to avoid these costs, which are sometimes difficult to absorb when you are new to the profession. Operating room, radiology room, photo studio, state-of-the-art equipment, reception areas and human resources are already available. The practitioner only pays for what he/she consumes, since if he/she can rent the space full time, he/she can also choose to work there only half a day per week. And, according to his needs (and desires!), increase or decrease the number of his shifts.
Medworking to free yourself from administrative tasks
Stock management, human resources (dental assistants, secretaries, receptionists, administrative agents), communication and e-reputation... All these side jobs of the liberal profession are time-consuming. And can, according to some studies, represent up to two thirds of the working time of a non-assisted practitioner.
In practice, of course, most practitioners are supported by a dental assistant who is also a secretary, or a secretary dedicated to these tasks, either full or part-time. The fact remains that the practitioner who works in his own office still has a significant mental load, linked in particular to human resources management and management. All these tasks often end up encroaching on the time dedicated to patients or on personal life...
The services offered by Medworking spaces relieve tenants of many concerns related to their premises (maintenance, work), their equipment (maintenance, renewal, financing), and human resources (recruitment, employee management, etc.).
Depending on the formula subscribed to, the structure proposes to benefit from numerous services:
- Patient reception: telephone switchboard for appointment booking, registration of rights, payment of care are all tasks that the practitioner no longer has to worry about;
- administrative tasks: third party payment, financial agreement, reminders to mutual insurance companies, management of estimates are, depending on the formula subscribed to, managed by Medworking;
- Management of stocks and consumables: the practitioner only needs to draw up a list of his needs, Medworking places the orders at preferential rates and only invoices what the dentist actually consumes;
- recruitment of a dental assistant: this obligatory and potentially stressful step, as the profession is facing a shortage of candidates and a high turnover, can also be delegated to the Medworking space, freeing the practitioner from this burden;
- communication, e-reputation: fundamental today, this task is time consuming and cannot be improvised. It can be handled by experts who optimize the marketing aspect of the firm.
Freed from most of the mental burden of administrative constraints, health professionals practicing in Medworking can fully concentrate on what is essential: their dentistry and the relationship with their patients.
Medworking to create links with colleagues
Working in Medworking is also a way to break the isolation of the liberal practitioner: a place of life and exchange, it allows to be in contact with colleagues without being bound to them by any association contract or subordination link.
The concept gives the opportunity to share expertise, to refer patients to each other according to needs and specialties, but also to exchange on the difficulties that a liberal practitioner may encounter and to have more informal discussions, which contribute to make the daily life lighter.
Who are the "medworkers" today?
The concept of Medworking is starting to emerge in France and this is the venture that Instacare has embarked on. The structure already offers prestigious practice spaces in Lyon and Marseille and will soon open three new locations in Nantes, Strasbourg and Port-Marly.
The medworkers who have joined Instacare have varied profiles: although they are popular with young dentists, they also attract practitioners with long experience. Like this dental surgeon who is about to stop his activity and who joined one of the Medworking spaces: " Without a buyer, it was not possible to keep my practice alone, to renovate it and to pay the expenses . Today, thanks to Instacare, I am free to work a few shifts a week and enjoy my retirement.
Or like this practitioner specialized in implantology who chose Medworking to take advantage of a flexibility and freedom of mind that " allows him to fulfill [his] travel desires without [worrying about] [his] practice on the other side of the globe."
Or like the dental surgeon who wanted to start her practice without having to put her personal life on hold to do administrative work: " I delegate all the management tasks to their team, in complete confidence, and concentrate solely on my patients and their care. When my work day is done, I go home with a free mind. "
Peace of mind, freedom and flexibility of organization, exchanges with colleagues, prestigious premises and top-of-the-range equipment: at a time when an increasing number of dentists are putting the quality of life at work and the balance between professional and personal life at the center of their concerns, Medworking is assured of a bright future.
