Fran Nelson, C-FNP, Ph.D. Owner, Director and FNP Care Provider Nelson Family Clinic, LLC , Hilbert, WI

How is your practice organized?

My team includes myself, a Family NP, one full time biller, a part time receptionist (30 hrs/week), a fulltime maintenance person, two part time clerical staff, and a physician assistant once a week. In addition, to support the extra services I provide, I rent space to a massage therapist and the Psychotherapist, with whom I share billings for the AODA program. A cardiologist also rents space from me.

I would say that business management and personnel were all major hurdles-- especially hiring and firing staff.

Administrative Oversight: I spend about 3-6 hours per week dealing with business issues. I probably don’t delegate nearly enough to other staff.

Time devoted to clinical work: 35-40 hours per week.

Patients per day: We see about 15-20 patients a day at the clinic.

Clinical relationships (collaborating physician, referrals, on call): I have a consulting physician who is required to come in and review cases at least every two weeks and to provide telephone consult when needed. The consulting physician happens to be my brother-in-law who practices in a town 30 miles outside our service area. I hire him by the hour to provide the consulting service.