Thinking about how to start a private medical practice?
In this episode, we explore how IPP helps physicians launch a private medical practice in just six months.
In this episode, Dr. Vishal P. Rekhala, an interventional pain management specialist, joins us to explore a game-changing approach to launching private medical practices through Independent Practice Partners (IPP). We unpack how IPP helps physicians go from concept to private medical practice in as little as six months — without the usual red tape and overwhelm.
Dr. Rekhala shares how a visionary group of ophthalmologists founded IPP to challenge the status quo and empower doctors to reclaim control of their careers with private medical practice.
We discuss how this model is giving new life to private medical practice, especially at a time when many physicians feel trapped by hospital systems and insurance giants.
As consolidation tightens its grip on healthcare, this conversation reveals how IPP offers a path to autonomy, financial growth, and better work-life balance, concluding in a private medical practice — something many young doctors crave but struggle to achieve. We also spotlight the critical role of medical sales reps in this journey, acting as trusted guides who help physicians navigate the complex terrain of starting and scaling their private medical practice.
From revenue cycle management and regulatory hurdles to the rise of boutique cash-pay practices, this episode is packed with real-world insights for physicians and sales professionals alike. Whether you’re a doctor dreaming of independence or a rep looking to expand your impact, this conversation is your roadmap to thriving in today’s evolving medical landscape and in the private medical practice space.
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Episode Transcript:
00:07 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Hello and welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. I’m your host, Samuel, founder of a revolutionary medical sales training and mentorship program called the Medical Sales Career Builder, and I’m also host of the Medical Sales Podcast. In this podcast, I interview top medical sales reps and leading medical sales executives across the entire world. It doesn’t matter what medical sales industry from medical device to pharmaceutical to genetic testing and diagnostic lab you name it. You will learn how to either break into the industry, be a top 10% performer within your role or climb the corporate ladder. Welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. Climb the corporate ladder. Welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. And remember I am a medical sales expert sharing my own opinion about this amazing industry and how it can change your life.
00:53
Hello and welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. I’m your host, Samuel, and today we have another special guest, and he goes by the name of Dr Vishal Rekhala. He is an interventional pain management specialist. We’ve had him on the show before, where he talked about pain management, the space and the reps within it, but this episode we get into his business with IPP, where he helps physicians that are just starting out in private practice grow to become big entities that can hire more and live the lives and create the lives they really, really want, and how med tech reps filter into this process, can be a part of it and really help these physicians get to where they want to be and develop amazing relationships in the process.
01:31
This is an episode you don’t want to miss. We kind of go into it with IPP what they’re doing, how reps are a part of it and why you want to make sure you’re listening to things like this as you advance through your career. As always, we do our best to bring new guests who know things differently in the medical sales space, so I really do hope you enjoy this interview. So, doctor, it’s been a minute since I saw you last. How have you been? What’s going on?
01:54 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Talk to us. Yeah, it has been a while. Thanks for having me on again. Things are going great. You know, last time I was talking to you a little bit about my little side gig, the IPP or the Independent Practice Partners, and that’s actually been growing really well and we’re excited to announce that we’re opening up our first assisting a doctor open up his first pain practice in the next few weeks and last time I spoke to you we were just like in the opening phases of that.
02:22
And then the group as a whole has been doing amazing the opening phases of that and then the group as a whole has been doing amazing. So it started out with ophthalmologists and they’re actually opening up their I think over 30 practices now in the ophthalmology space in a matter of four or five years, which is tremendous growth. That’s amazing.
02:38 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So let’s dial it back a little bit, because there’s a lot of people listening right now that just they don’t know about this opportunity, they don’t know about what you guys are doing and they don’t know what it means for doctors and for reps and for medical sales professionals. Why don’t you break it down? What is this exactly and what do you guys do?
02:54 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah.
02:54
So the founding guys are a group of ophthalmologists doctors who, through trial and error, ended up starting their own kind of private practices and realize that there’s a lot of difficult steps and a lot of things they don’t really teach you and you don’t really know until you start doing it.
03:09
So they kind of came together and started this company that actually assists doctors who want to start their own private practice. Now, you know, doctors can probably figure this out on their own, but their real main point is they get you from the idea you want to start to the time you’re actually seeing patients and actually collecting some revenue much faster. So any kind of mistake or kind of you know, choose your own adventure, choice you have to make, they’ll know they’ve already done it, they’ve already made those mistakes, so they know okay, hey, this is the way to do it, this is the fastest way to get this done, these are the things you want to get done, and then that really saves you time. And when you’re starting your own practice, the time until you’re actually generating revenue is a very scary time for people. That’s usually what holds people back is like listen, I only have X amount of money saved up, I will need to get this up and going as soon as possible, so yeah, sure.
04:04 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So let’s just dive into that a little bit, because I think it’s valuable for medical sales professionals, especially ones that call an ophthalmologist to understand what that journey really is like, so they know what to anticipate when they’re trying to work with a new physician. What is the timeline on the average? And then how does your service with IPP speed that timeline up?
04:27 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah. So I mean it could be, you know, if you’re doing it on your own, it definitely could be, you know, year plus to try to really get all these things up and going, getting credentialed on insurances and things like that. I believe these guys typically do it around six months or so. The fastest I think I’ve heard them do, with some some side caveats, was about three, four months, so they’re able to get things up and going relatively quick yeah to revenue in four months well, revenue meaning patients through the door with the insurance game.
05:00
You know insurance is also. You know there’s a 90 day thing until they start paying, sometimes claims and stuff like that. But from idea to like actually seeing patients, it can be as fast as that. Typically, you know, six, eight months, 10 months, which is reasonable the whole idea, especially since your platform again thanks for having me on it’s nice to have the reps really kind of hear about this opportunity, because doctors, especially when we work pretty closely with different reps, tend to rely on them and we use them for advice, practice locations or hey, what do you think of that practice? Or what do you think of this location? Or do you know if some people are hiring, if you’re, you know, kind of not happy with your current situation, and a lot of times we’ll go to the reps, especially if we have a great relationship with them. So it’s really just trying to plant that seed in as many people’s head that, hey, there’s actually a group because there’s nothing really out there.
05:59
There’s some, some like lawyer groups that um help assist with the, with the kind of contracting and that kind of thing. But there’s the legal aspects of it, but there’s no one from a physician standpoint who will basically hold your hand through the whole process and, uh, get you, get you up and running as fast as possible. So it’s a it’s a really nice uh, avenue of venture, um, because there’s not a lot of options out there.
06:25 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Now, that’s so interesting. So right now you guys start. Well, they were ophthalmologists, they started ophthalmology, but right now you guys have your hands in all kinds of specialties.
06:36 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah, so last year right around the time we were speaking, I came on board to the advisory board in the pain management kind of division. So we’re starting in pain management and also in dermatology. Yeah, so we’re, you know, slowly trying to expand. So they’ve really got the ophthalmology game down pat and expanding and through word of mouth and getting more and more doctors who are looking to join and start their own private practice, which is great. So we’re slowly building that now in pain management, Got the first one getting ready to open soon and then hopefully we can get some more.
07:13 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That’s amazing. And would you say that, I mean, it’s kind of early to tell, but the different specialties still have the same kind of pathway? Or would you say that dermatology is a lot longer than pain management, pain management is a lot shorter than ophthalmology, and vice versa?
07:27 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
I think there’s the baseline background, things that are very comparable across all medical specialties that are outpatient-based. Obviously, this is not going to work for someone who needs to be in the hospital doing big procedures, but outpatient-based, a lot of the things are pretty universal and that’s what we have. You know, kind of a set blueprint, universal and that’s what we have. You know, kind of a set blueprint, and then anything that needs to be customized. That’s really where the individual doctors in each field, the ophthalmology guys, will help them. You know, I’m here on the pain management side to kind of troubleshoot or assist with anything that could be more specific to that, and then the same with the derm. So, yeah, the pain management actually seems to be relatively quick. There’s less equipment and things that are needed compared to some of the ophthalmology positions. So I think they’re similar but we have the ability to adjust if needed.
08:18 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That’s amazing. Now this is growing. It’s grown since I’ve just seen you what. Maybe it’s almost a year ago. What’s your time looking like with this project? Is this something that as it grows, you’re spending more time, or, as it grows, you kind of just get to do whatever you want to do on the outside and what do you want it to be? That’s probably even a better question.
08:46 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
I think every time someone comes on board or hears about it, they think it’s a great idea. I think it can keep growing. There’s a lot of healthcare consolidation going on right now, so we’re at like one end of the spectrum where hospitals are becoming these giant monopolies. Insurances are now buying up practices and everything, so everyone’s kind of getting integrated into like almost one or two big Private, a dying breed, right.
09:09
So this is going against all those trends and if you look at most things, it’s almost better to be on the other end, because the pendulum is going to swing back around. It always does so. At some point they’re going to be like okay, we can’t have these giant health systems, they need to be broken up. We need to do X, y and Z. We need to help private practices with reimbursement rates, make it the same as the hospital rates, things like that, and then the pendulum will swoop quickly back the other way. These physicians who are kind of ahead of their time by starting their own private practice will be right there to benefit from it. So you’re already getting doctors who are tired of working for the giant conglomerates or hospital groups who are looking for revenue.
09:49 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Oh really, so you’re hearing that?
09:50 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
now, oh yeah, all the time. Yeah, doctors are not. You know they’re not. It’s becoming a physician. You’re typically a very independent person and don’t like to be micromanaged by people who are not your peers, so hold on.
10:08 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I mean because you said that and you’re a doctor so you know better than anyone. But I do remember when I was back in the day, when I used to be a rep early in my career and it was like a rash where these hospitals were just buying up practices left and right and to my surprise, the doctors were happy to do it. They were like wait a minute, you’re telling me you’re going to pay me more to see maybe 10 patients a day. You’re going to take over all these troubles that I normally have to manage, that are just a pain in my, and I just get to skate until I retire, sign me up. And I just get to skate until I retire, sign me up.
10:45
And then I saw this trend of down to fellows talking about yeah, when I was in school we were just excited to join a medical group or join some big group and be that physician that almost treats the job more like an eight to five than anything else and live that life. So I assumed that’s just going to be the standard and that’s eventually going to be the only thing that really exists. So where did it? I guess, to your point, that the pendulum always swings. When did it start to change so?
11:14 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
that’s a great question. So it definitely back in the day, there was a lot of physicians who were, like you said, happy to be like oh really, I can just practice the way I’m practicing now, slow down in a few years and then retire, and you’re going to give me a big payday. That’s the key, though. So those are the physicians who are ready to slow down and retire in a few years. So the sellout to the hospital or the private equity or whoever always benefits them, right? They’re getting a giant payday, they work for a couple more years and then they’re done.
11:46
It’s the younger docs who really suffer, right? That’s when they don’t have the ability to run the practice efficiently. They don’t have the ability to even have much say sometimes in their hours and this and that the amount of time they can spend with patients, things like this it’s not their choice, right? Sometimes it gets just told to them what they need to do. The hospital, the company that paid all that money up front to those other people need to recruit that. And how can you recruit it? It’s like okay, well, we need you to see more people, we need you to do X, y and Z. We need to take less vacations. So the younger docs kind of get a bad break with that. So that’s where I think this comes in for them. Also, the fellows coming out and work I think a lot of that was more maybe joining a big private practice or things like that where they could learn the craft in an outpatient setting. Where they could learn the craft in an outpatient setting. Definitely there’s some benefit to joining if you’re in a specialty that requires you to be in the hospital all the time, to join a hospital group.
12:53
But private practice the benefit of having your own private practice is you’re the boss. You want to work one day a week, you do it. You want to work two days a week, you do it. To work one day a week, you do it. You want to work two days a week, you do it. You want to take every day three hour lunch because you’re able to maybe go see your kid or this or that. Whatever you want to do, you do it. And you can actually make as much money, if not way more, without seeing as many patients or feeling the stress, because you control the overhead. And that cannot be stated enough to a lot of newer, younger doctors who don’t realize that you can run your practice at a very efficient manner. So you can bring in half and make twice as much, sometimes as if you were an employee doctor, just because you’re structuring the practice very efficiently. And that’s also what IPP does very well. We structure the practices Most of my partners in this. They work only like two, two and a half days Wow.
13:56
They’re seeing a lot of patients. But they structure their practice so they’re highly efficient. When they’re working, they’re cranking and they have their staff and then they have their overhead down to such a good amount that boom they’re doing extremely phenomenally well, See now, Dr, you’re just going to make some people mad.
14:14 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
They’re listening right now. That’s what’s happening right now. You’re going to make them upset.
14:16 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah, make them upset, Come come.
14:19 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
This is on purpose, people, this is on purpose.
14:21 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah, start your own practice. You control your timeline. You don’t have an admin telling you when you can take vacation and what you can do with your life. You do what you want to do.
14:29 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That’s fascinating. So you mentioned private practice. Private practice. This also works, though, for medical groups. That’s somewhat considered private practice, right, if you’re a band of doctors?
14:42 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
maybe five or six of you in a group a year? Um, we haven’t. We we’ve done with solo. Typically, as of now, we haven’t had a group who, um, who’ve done that? I don’t. Yeah, it’s typically a physician who’s either in a bigger group or whatever just wants to branch out and start their own own thing. Um, but I will say that the uh, many of the practices have grown so fast that they’re hiring docs and people underneath it.
15:04
Yeah, and you, guys come with that, yeah, whatever they need, yeah, 100. Yeah, that’s the thing. Most of the most we it’s really the beginning that we help the most okay, um, but even after we’ve kind of exited, we’re always there if they want to contact us. It’s almost kind of like a mentorship. If they have questions or this, we’re there to help guide them like three years down the road like, hey, I want to maybe open a second location, can you guys maybe do the geographical analysis and this and that and and we can jump right back in, you know, with the, with the assistance, if they need it.
15:36 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, how long do you normally work with a physician?
15:42 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
So we we work initially in the beginning to get them up and running and started. We can continue with them for a few years if needed on some of the back office things, the revenue cycle management things like that, and then some physicians actually stay on for the. We have like a little side piece that helps with revenue cycle management billing and they do a phenomenal job at really capturing all the claims. So we have many of the practices. It’s up to them if they want to stay on with that piece as just a little small piece on the side to help them with their billing. But yeah, we typically do in the beginning and then our continuation is as need basis.
16:28 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, so, okay, let’s have some fun with the numbers here, just so everyone listening can have a clearer picture about what’s actually going on. If you were just to indulge me, okay, indulge me. If you were to qualify the entire physician market into either private practice or non-private practice, what percentages are you assigning? How many? What percentage is private practice? What percentage is non-private practice?
16:59 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
I don’t know offhand the exact, but I definitely it’s definitely way more of a majority are not private practice than are 70-30? Yeah, I would guess somewhere around there. Yeah, and it’s changing every year because, as we’ve talked about the private practice models going away, not so much on the solo, but these groups, large groups, are getting bought up between the hospitals, private equity insurance companies, right and so it’s. It’s shifting that way. Every year is shifting that way more and more, plus a lot of the, the different regulations and things that, um, some states put in in place. It’s almost like the game’s rigged to just be an employee.
17:48 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So wow, wow, or it’s going that direction anyway, okay, so 70 30. But you did say that the pendulum is swinging and you do see that at some point it’s going to swing far the other way. So maybe that 70-30 is going to flip.
18:02 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
I bet it will.
18:03
I bet it will over the next maybe decade, I think.
18:06
Both on the regulation, government side, I think there’s in theory there’s legislations that’s looking to do pay equity, do pay equity.
18:18
So if you do a procedure in a doctor’s surgical center versus the hospital’s surgical center, why are you getting paid three times as much to do it at the hospital’s surgical center versus the doctor’s surgical center? So things like that can pay equity in those types of regards can change it. You know the access to you know a lot of people don’t like these giant integrated systems where the insurance company is the same people who own the doctor, who own the pharmacy. And I think that on the regulation side will change with legislations over the years because there’s a lot of kind of pushback that you’re starting to hear in the media and also Congress with some of that. And then on the local, like on the physician level, you’re getting pushback because you know doctors are for the most part starting to get tired of being kind of pushed around or like in a tough, tough kind of environment where they don’t have, say, over their own schedule or say over how many patients they’re seeing or things like that.
19:18 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
It’s very frustrating. I’ll never forget it. You know, this was years ago and I worked with a surgeon that he was my customer and he worked in a hospital you know, entity group and he had a PhD, an MBA, and he was an amazing surgeon and the person that he answered to did not have a bachelor’s degree. Yeah, exactly God he would. I mean, every day. He’d be like I cannot believe this is my life. I cannot believe this is my life.
19:45 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah, exactly Exactly so. Like that’s the person, like you go. Hey, listen, you are an extremely smart individual. Yeah, do you have experience at all X, Y and Z? No, we, yeah, Do you have experience at all X, y and Z? No, we’ll help guide you to that point. We’ll set you there and you’re you’re, you’re. You excelled at every aspect of your life. There’s no doubt you’ll excel at this too. We’ll just help you get there faster than you would if you did it by yourself.
20:06 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I love it Now. Now, how does Medicare and Medicaid factor into all of this? Or you know? And boutique practices, for example? So you have these private practices that are boutique. Only Gosh, I remember for a little while that was the hottest thing and they were making a ton of money in relatively affluent areas.
20:27 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
And then you had the Medicare and Medicaid, which has always been kind of a Right, so yeah, I mean.
20:30
So the IPP typically works with the insurance model. So a lot of the kind of headaches and some of the difficulties with setting up your own practice in the insurance model, with credentialing and getting decent rates and billing and all the things that are required, with seeing that is really where IPP can be the most of assistance. Doing like a boutique cash practice. It’s much easier to kind of set up on your own. You don’t need revenue cycle management, you don’t need a billing department, you don’t need X, y and Z, you don’t have to apply for the rate or anything. So you just kind of it was like how it was back in the day. You put your name out there and be like this is what I offer.
21:15
So yeah, and I think in some fields that’s also where it’s going to. I don’t think so much in like ophthalmology. Maybe dermatology with some aspects of it, pain management could maybe go that route as well, you know, because a lot of the procedures we do are not that crazy expensive. So you could maybe do that model if the insurances keep cutting the rates and or are not covering procedures. But yeah, typically we work with the, with the insurance kind of model, okay, and and then the Medicare, medicaid stuff.
21:48
So you’re saying you you’re mostly like PPO type well, no, yeah, we take Medicare too and you know certain Medicaid depending on the contract and that they would that contract, that they would do so typically. I’m just saying in general, when we look to set up a practice, we would see if it’s in Wisconsin or California or New York or whatever it is. We’ll see what the big insurance players are there. You know, obviously, medicare.
22:12 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You’re advising them where to put their energy.
22:14 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Correct. Yeah, we look at the rates, we help determine. We’re like, hey, you know what, this one’s going to be a money loser. It makes no sense for you to see those patients. Even if you’re going to get an extra 10 patients, you’re going to have to see 12 to make anything or whatever. Yeah, that’s all part of the cost-benefit analysis. But no, yeah, most practices are seeing Medicare, some of the Medicaid’s, depending on the state and what they offer.
22:39 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So right now you’ve labeled the specialties where you guys are thriving, but are you in a position where pretty much any specialty can call you and ask for help? I hope you’re enjoying today’s episode and I want to let you know our programs cover the entire career of a medical sales professional, from getting into the medical sales industry to training on how to be a top performer in the medical sales industry, to masterfully navigating your career to executive level leadership. These programs are personalized and customized for your specific career and background and trained by over 50 experts, including surgeons. Our results speak for ourselves and we’re landing positions for our candidates in less than 120 days in top medical technology companies like Stryker, medtronic, merck, abbott you name it. Would you run an Ironman race without training and a strategy? You wouldn’t, so why are you trying to do the same with the medical sales position? You need training, you need a strategy and you need to visit evolveyourassetscom, fill out the application schedule some time with one of our account executives and let’s get you into the position that you’ve always dreamed of.
23:44 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
We haven’t really expanded to that. That might be the next step. The founding partners, I know, are more in that kind of vein, I think eventually. But I think we’re, like I said, the ophthalmology is expanding, you know, exponentially at this point. So I think right now we’re really invested in getting the pain management and dermatology arms running. But I don’t see why not Like like we were talking about a lot of the um background things are the same. Um, there’ll be a little differences here and there for the subspecialties, but I don’t see why that couldn’t be the future.
24:24 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, okay.
24:26 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
So they should call you. They can call, always can call, always can call, can always. Go check us out on the internet at iPracticePartnerscom, and we’re here. We’re here to talk and then sing.
24:39 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
What are the biggest challenges with this service? When do you find yourself saying, hmm, this one’s a tough nut to crack? How are those types of physicians typically showing up that makes them such a challenge?
24:53 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
It’s not so much that it’s a challenge once we start no-transcript to say I want people always think about it, they toy with it or say it it’s like you know, yeah, it’s it’s. It’s a hard thing to do, you know. It’s like trying to ask out the girl at the bar. You got to do it sometimes.
25:42 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Love that analogy. Okay, okay, gotcha. That’s the challenge is I describe it as timid interest. Right, they want to, they want to flirt with it, but I just don’t know Correct. Now let’s talk about that physician that you know. He or she has been working for 20, 30 years and they’re like I need to remove myself from how much time I spend trying to see all my patients. I want to hire someone, but they just can’t figure it out. In my, in my tenure, I’ve seen so many of these in that position I can’t I get. If I made a nickel every time I came across a physician that had that situation, I’d be a billionaire. So that physician calls you. What’s the expectation? You can help them get to a solution.
26:23 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
See, I don’t know, I mean we could help guide with that. Yeah, we’re more like with getting you started with your initial practice. So if they were with us already, then we can help incorporate the newer physicians or help them recruit, recruit and and things like that. But yeah, if it’s like more of a physician who’s like looking to wind down, they already have their private practice. Typically what they end up doing is selling to you know, the hospital or, uh, someone if they were, if they were. Well, what my father actually did was he he actually bought his. He was a psychiatrist, he’s a psychiatrist, but has recently retired actually did was he actually bought his. He was a psychiatrist, he’s a psychiatrist, but has recently retired. Many years ago he actually bought a physician’s private practice who was retiring and then just took it over. So that could be the option too. Everyone kind of does nowadays is sells it to the hospital or private equity or whoever, and work for two or three more years and then retire and then the group hires someone else Gotcha.
27:25 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, remind us. What type of physician are you doctor?
27:30 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah, so I’m an interventional pain and sports medicine physician. I work in a large orthopedic practice up in the Hudson Valley, new York, do a bunch of outpatient procedures, spinal procedures. We have a surgical center and yeah, that’s my nine to five. Is that? It’s pretty rewarding. I work a lot of spine surgeons and try to keep people away from my spine surgeon colleagues so they don’t need a big fusion or anything like that.
27:59 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I get it. I get it Now. Did you use the service, or were you kind of already you had the blessing of knowing what to do and you had more success, right.
28:08 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
So I have not used the service All the other founding partners have. Well, they kind of came up with the idea together and they were using bits and pieces and kind of did it that way. I have not. So I got lucky. I joined a large private practice group so I was kind of grandfathered in, luckily, into the private practice model. So I got lucky with that. But having said that, you know, if for some reason down the road I want to branch out and do my own thing, this is kind of the no-brainer way to go. It’s the turnkey model. I think it’s the term people use the turnkey model. Right, the franchise is there? Boom, set it up and go.
28:50 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That’s awesome. A lot of reps listening to this podcast that are active in the field doing their thing. Of reps listening to this podcast that are active in the field doing their thing. What would you share with them about this opportunity, about this service, this business, that they could make more valuable for the physician that they call on?
29:06 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah. So I mean, like I was saying, the reps, they have so much knowledge, local knowledge, territorial knowledge they’re usually calling on a bunch of docs in the area, referral sources, things like that. So we usually turn to reps. You know like, hey, how’s that group? Or you know what’s that, how’s that area? Or if you’re thinking of expanding or looking for a new job, so just having your audience know that there’s a physician-led group that offers these services, you never know.
29:34
When you’re working with a physician, I’m like man, I just can’t take working at this hospital anymore. I wish I could just start my own thing. I just don’t know how to do it. They might say it offhand or whatever, and passing to the rep who’s in a long case with them or whatever, and the rep will be like hell, you know what? There’s this group. You should look at them. That’s really what I wanted. I plant that seed in as many people’s heads because you’ll never really know and and most of my reps who, um, I deal with, are very personable, very great and very helpful with troubleshooting, so they love to pass on these little pearls on whether it’s the, the procedure you’re doing, or whether it’s golfing or whatever they’ll love to be like oh yeah, let me help you with this, let me help you with that. So they’re very, very helpful. So hopefully they’ll have that in their head and someone talks to someone and then, oh yeah, yeah, you know, doc, you should look at this.
30:21 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You know you, you may be interested in, in what they have to offer got it now, right now, you guys don’t have like a sales from anything like that. How are you, how are you letting people know that this exists through you guys? You hear that, yeah, I not me guys. You hear that, no, yeah.
30:37 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
I mean, so we go to we typically go to the conferences a lot and and network Some of the guys are really great on like LinkedIn and and really up there with the with, with their social media presence and things like that. But yeah, it’s really, it’s really old school. It’s like we tried advertising on things or here and there and it’s just it doesn’t get as much traction as word of mouth. Yeah, yeah, yeah, just getting it out. People hear about it and then it just kind of spreads and it’s even not even for that. I think that’s why it also takes a couple years before you really see the floodgates open, like now they’re opening for the ophthalmology space because they’ve been going to the conferences, hosting little dinners and things here and there. So the whole community really knows well. So the second that they’re thinking about starting they call the group versus the pain and dermatology we just started. So last fall we had a conference, we had a nice dinner, we got out with some of the fellows. That’ll just plant the seed, the fellow might take a job.
31:38
His first contract will be good. And then after the second contract, he realizes oh, I’m getting kind of screwed over here a little bit, I think I want to go on my own. And then that’s where that seed was planted a while ago, that’s awesome Ado, I have to ask this question.
31:54 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So, since you’ve been in this, in this, in this business, what’s the biggest success you would say you’ve seen?
32:05 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
I would just say the growth of those practices, the some of them are growing so fast that they’re they’re looking to hire like two, three, you know, new physicians, new locations. It’s just, it’s just so impressive Like you think, okay, how am I going to start something on my own? And you’re scared and and then boom, before you know, within a couple of years it’s growing faster than you know. And then you know you don’t. If you’re the founding physician, you’ve got a couple of docs underneath it.
32:34
You may not even have to work that much at all you know if you’re cut down from that two days to, like, one day if you want to, but that’s your choice. You know, and I think that’s probably what the what, what’s the most exciting thing so like even with all the headwinds of the regulations and and kind of the not having the safety of being in a big group and this, and that once it’s up and running, you just see that these practices thrive. So it’s kind of amazing you think, well, once they’re up, would it be struggling? Well, no, they’re doing phenomenally well, which is really exciting.
33:11 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You clearly know what you’re doing. So then we have to now know about the man behind the force. Okay, how do you make life work? You’re a busy physician in pain management. You’re a big player in pain management. You’ve got this whole other business you’re helping run. Where do you find the time? Tell us about the family life, the daily plan. How do you make it all work?
33:35 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
So a lot of the work ends up falling on my wife, who’s also a physician, but she’s extremely lovely and very understanding of me doing silly things. Yeah, my work structure is actually fairly fairly good. I have it very efficient at work, so I’m able to do a lot in a short period of time, which allows me to have more time. Um, like this, to you know, spend this afternoon I’m speaking to you. Yeah, um, so that works out well. Um, yeah, I got two young kids. They’re in school, one’s eight, one’s four. You’re in the trenches, sir you are in the trenches, yes, yes, um, and uh, yeah.
34:15
No, it’s good weekends, we spend a lot of time with them, and then I waste a lot of time. My wife will definitely, you know, if you ever meet her, I’ll be saying that I waste a lot of time golfing. So that’s my, that’s kind of my. Biggest vice is what I do. Is I golf?
34:28 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That’s awesome, just to be able to say it. That’s awesome. What specialty is your wife in?
34:33 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
She does women’s health and family practice. Yeah, okay.
34:37 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Has she used any of this?
34:42 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
She hasn’t but she has started her own practice. So she also is in this and we’ve had experience and kind of exposure and some of the pitfalls that can happen if you don’t have a kind of vetted path. So you know, I personally haven’t but I’ve seen it firsthand with my wife where if you make a certain mistake.
35:00
It’s not like it’s you’re shutting down the business, it’s just delaying you from profitability or delaying you from revenue by making X, y and Z mistake in that decision tree. So that’s really where IPP’s got it down to a science on how to get all those things in the background that you may not even be thinking about all aligned so that way, boom, you can be seeing patients as soon as possible.
35:25 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I love it. I love this. This is fantastic. Any I don’t know how would I say this, any I don’t know rituals, practices, you do, that kind of keep you going, any kind of thing you follow that’s like, yeah, this is my mantra, this is my plan every morning. That kind of gets me in gear and allows me to do and create the life that I’m currently living.
35:45 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Any kind of mantra. That’s a great, I don’t know. I don’t know who said this, but it always pops in my head, sometimes, randomly. You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take. Yeah, that’s a good one, and I like it. I like it, it’s good, I love it. Yeah, so sometimes you know, just to get motivated, you know, yeah, you should try more things. Facts.
36:07 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Facts. Okay, to bring this to a close. So the last thing I want to ask about regarding the IPP is what is it, what is the number one mistakes that new private practice physicians typically always make that put them in positions to need help from an entity like IPP?
36:30 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Well, I think in the beginning the first step would be geographic location, like doing the proper analysis to see where’s your competitors, see where’s your competitors, what’s the insurer-payer mix, what are some of the referring physicians, who’s maybe closer to retirement? So there’s things that you can kind of research and help analyze to kind of pick a location that will make you more successful. I think that’s a big pitfall in the beginning just being like, okay, well, I live here, so I’ll just open a thing right down the street, versus if you went maybe a town or two over, it could be a lot better. So I think that’s one of the biggest pitfalls. I think the other big pitfall where I think IPP is very helpful is the revenue cycle management, the billing collections. That piece it’s very difficult.
37:31
The insurances make the whole process very, very cumbersome. And managing that understanding you know, training the staff to know, okay, well, this patient, this insurance, you have to take this co patient. Yeah, this insurance, you have to take this copay and this you have to do that way. I think that’s a big piece that most physicians really don’t have, especially if you’re coming from like a hospital training type of thing. You don’t, you don’t really a hospital practice. You don’t really get a lot of exposure to that. So they’re even paid on this RVU model which is, you know, it doesn’t, it’s, it’s, it’s completely arbitrary and made up, but it’s. It’s just so different that I think those are probably the two biggest areas where I think you know we can really help. We help kind of pick the pick and locate the proper location for you to thrive, and then, once you’re up, we can really help to make sure that all the work you’re doing you’re actually receiving payment for in a timely manner. Sure.
38:41 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Is there any efforts to kind of get this type of information and the opportunity to work with a company like yours to students that are still in school, to doctors that are about to be doctors?
38:47 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah. So, like I said, when we go to these conferences we do get exposure to fellows and we try to plant the seeds, but typically it hasn’t. Really. You would think, okay, the new doctor won’t want to start, but with the training being so long and the kind of delayed gratification that we all go through, it’s hard to say no to someone being oh, here’s X, Y and Z, guaranteed salary for three years with a sign on bonus and a relocation and this and that. So it’s it. Maybe in the future we’ll go more towards that, but as of right now, it’s really the physician after their first contract before year 10, somewhere in that.
39:30 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
They got to get beat up a little bit. They got to have a little thing going on, little bruises and stuff.
39:34 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Yeah, they get the big initial pay and then they go like and then they realize, oh, this is not what I thought I was getting myself into, there’s more to it. And then, once they kind of see the business side of it, they’re like I’m taking home pennies on the dollar for what I’m actually creating for this entity. I can do this on my own much better. That’s where, around between year three and 10, the doc is like okay, I’m ready, let’s do this. But hopefully in the future the fellows will be more adventurous and ready to jump in.
40:07 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure, well, we’ll have more episodes, sir, and we’ll get them Absolutely Okay. Yes, it’s on us. All right, I like it. This is awesome. Doctor, always love spending time with you. We have one more thing to do. It’s called the lightning round. Are you ready? I’m ready, let’s do it. What is the best book you’ve read in the last six months?
40:29 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
I wish you asked me this last time. I did.
40:32 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You better give me a new book. I’m reading.
40:36 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Harry Potter still with my daughter.
40:38 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
There’s nothing wrong with that. Which one?
40:39 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
We’re halfway through the second one now. Okay, that is good, that is very good. I love it. She’s the second one now.
40:44 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, hey, that is good, that is very good. I love it, and she is the one who’s reading it, so the books are very long.
40:50 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
So you know, okay, okay, hey you got to do it.
40:53 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
What is the best TV show or movie you’ve seen in the last six months?
40:57 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
So I’m watching a TV show right now called Narcos, mexico, and it’s phenomenal. It’s all about, it’s all like real life. So I’m watching an episode and literally the guy that the episode was about just got uh transported from mexico. Yes, and I was like, oh my god, that’s the guy, what the heck.
41:19 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So that show, which really happened, yeah, it’s amazing.
41:22 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
yeah, it’s really yeah, elo, I’m like watching El Chapo. Yeah, yeah yeah, el Chapo in jail for the first time, I don’t know. So the show is great. My wife hates it because she’s like upstairs trying to do work and she hears all this like Mexican curse words, spanish curse words and guns and things going off.
41:40 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That is fantastic. I love it Okay.
41:46 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
What’s the best meal you’ve had in the last six months? The best meal was this there’s a restaurant a little further south in Westchester that makes authentic Chinese food. So goose feather, goose feather, okay yeah, and it’s in some sort of like observatory, like mansion type of place. It was fantastic. We have some family friends who are like big foodies and they like to pick restaurants to go to, so this is one of their picks and it was fantastic. The food was delicious.
42:21 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
The ambiance was like amazing Is it a chain, or is it just one?
42:24 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
No, I don’t think it’s a chain. I think it was just that, that local restaurant. It was like we were in this like estate and then we were in like what looked like their living room or something and eating this amazing meal.
42:34 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, it was great so you know I’m doing a a national tour of all the podcast recommendations, so I am going to goose feather oh yeah, let me know, let me know.
42:43 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Let me know I will. I’m a channel member.
42:45 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, we might be able to do it together. That would be awesome.
42:47 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
And it’s on our YouTube channel. Okay, I’ll definitely join you. Okay, last but not least, what’s the best experience you’ve had in the last six months? Best experience I’ve had in the last six months, I guess I’ll say eagles winning the super bowl.
43:06 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
hey, that was a big deal okay, that was a very big deal. I was. I was rooting for that quarterback. Um, jalen hurts, oh man, I was. I mean gosh. I was great that dude deserved it so much so that’s a.
43:19 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
That’s the uh. This. He’s a perfect example of like, perseverance and kind of kind of following your dreams and your goals. He was the quarterback in the national championship game for Alabama and got benched. He got benched in the national championship game, went to Oklahoma, became almost the Heisman Trophy winner, then got drafted by the Eagles and now he’s one of the top quarterbacks. He didn’t give up on his dream. He got benched in the national championship game and kept fighting, and he did it. So we can all do it.
43:51 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You better say it, doctor, you better say it. As always, it was a pleasure having you on the show today. Thank you for coming. We can’t wait to see the amazing thing you’re doing with IPP and as you continue your career.
44:01 – Dr. Rekhala (Guest)
Thank you. Thank you, thank you again for having me on Pleasure.
44:03 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That was . Wow, good stuff. You know I always love talking to him about these things. His business is amazing. What they’re doing is amazing and it’s really interesting that you know, when I was out there doing my thing, it was all about these big entities taking over everything and really, from new physicians to older physicians, everybody wants to be a part of it. Now that the pendulum is starting to swing again and private practice is becoming the thing to step into and do powerfully, it’s just fantastic to hear and groundbreaking companies like this that are helping physicians get there and allowing reps to partake and providing even more value to their customers. I mean it’s a win-win across the board. This is awesome and I can’t wait to see the things they go on and do.
44:49
If you love episodes like this, if you love the information we’re sharing with you, if this is providing you more value, then I want you to do one thing before you continue your day after listening to this podcast. I want you to go to Spotify, I want you to go to Apple and I want you to write a review on what you’re hearing, what you’re learning. Give, give us a five-star rating if you believe it’s so. Give us what’s true for you, but if we’re providing value, then please help us spread the word so that more people can get that same kind of value.
45:10
As always, we do our best to bring you guests who are doing things differently in the medical sales space, so please tune in next week for another episode of the Medical Sales Podcast. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode and remember I have a customized and personalized program that gets you into the medical technology industry as a sales professional or any type of role for that matter. Become a top performer in your position and masterfully navigate your career to executive level leadership. Check out these programs and learn more at EvolveYourSuccess.com, by visiting our site, filling out an application schedule some time with one of our account executives and allowing us to get you where you need to be. Stay tuned for more awesome content with amazing interviews on the Medical Sales Podcast.
Medical Territory Manager!
I was a Regional Sales Representative for Long-Term Care pharmacy services. I had dreamed of getting into the med sales industry when I went into my career as a nurse, but the pharmacy sales job came to me, and I had just settled. Fortunately, I had a job shakeup that allowed me to determine that now was the time to pursue my original vision.
I absolutely would not have this position without Samuel and the Evolve Your Success community. A lot of people my age would just stop trying, but EYS believed in me.
EYS allowed me to break into the industry in 90-Days after I had been trying on my own for over two years! I had lots of recruiter screenings, and a few interviews with hiring managers, but I was never offered a position.
Before EYS, I didn’t realize I was doing the bare minimum to get hired. I was applying everywhere, hoping to get noticed and waiting. It just wasn’t working! I didn’t know that that was not enough to compete in an industry this sought after, and against people who knew what I didn’t know about the process.
Of course, I had to think hard before making a financial investment that’s reasonably substantial. But when I read the testimonials of real med sales reps on the site and learned that I wasn’t the only one taking a chance on my success, that EYS was sharing that risk also, I knew I had to do it. Though you might be able to cobble together some of the steps of getting a role in med sales from online research on your own, you just can’t know what you don’t know!
The process of going through EYS presents this insider knowledge to the student, as well as giving you a progression of difficulty as you obtain the information, and you begin to master it. Not only that, but they give you access to amazing mentors and instructors, allow you to practice your interview skills, and teach you how to market yourself through social media and your own website! I cannot stress enough that EYS was the factor that made the difference in my successfully landing my dream job! The support, structure, and knowledge gained was invaluable!
I would recommend this course to ANYONE looking to break into medical sales
Thank you so much, EYS! This journey has been life changing and has resulted in the successful culmination of my 18-Year ambition! 
Sports Medicine in Phoenix! I extend so much gratitude to the Evolve Your Success group as I land this role and get ready to pursue my dream job. I am a Physical Therapist who became a little stuck in the profession due to issues with reimbursement and the difficulty for continued growth upwards. I turned to EYS to assist me in learning about the medical sales industry and gain knowledgable mentors who were able to help coach me in this process. I am a strong believer in surrounding yourself with the best and good things will happen. I did work hard, but with the support of my mentors and other colleagues going through a career change, I felt a sense of community and it confirmed my drive to get into this industry. I have already learned so much through the interview process, and feel very blessed to have had the resources this group provided. I have made lifelong friends and I cannot wait to continue to follow others’ journeys to pursue this incredible field. I urge you to give Evolve Your Success a try to gain mentorship, guidance, and support through any career transition.
and am excited to make a difference in patients’ lives as a Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist.
! Though I truly enjoyed working as a physical therapist, I can’t wait to start my career in the sales world as a Clinical Account Executive.
. I owe this opportunity to Samuel, the program, and the incredible mentors at EYS.
