Quick version: I am curious if there are any primary care physicians out there who are semi-retired who have made a small low-overhead practice work as their 'retirement gig'.
Background: MMM mentioned this in his most recent blog post, so I figure there must be some of you out there.
I am a pediatrician, primarily clinic-based, although until recently I also did hospital work. I work full time at about 60 hours a week between my practice and some administrative positions I hold. I love time in the room with patients. I hate paperwork and politics. My 'not-for-profit' institution has hired a bunch of consultants who are encouraging the organization to take a very firm position against physicians working part-time, so I am strongly thinking about Plan B options.
I have enough money put away that I could probably FIRE, but I really don't want to stop working - I want to continue to 'work in retirement', but choosing a practice environment I would find more fulfilling.
My dream is to find a way to practice 20-30 hours per week, including paperwork, and dedicate the rest of my time to things I enjoy. I fantasize about the idea of getting together about 6-8 pediatricians who are all interested in sharing about 3 full-time panels, but the current regulatory climate seems like we would be swimming very strongly upstream by trying to do such a thing at a time when so many physician owned practices are selling out to massive hospital groups (like the one I am currently a part of).
I have read a bit about ultra-micro practices that don't bill insurance (although I suspect the ACA individual mandate has made that pool of patients quite small), as well as some 'direct primary care' or retainer-based medical practices like Qliance in Seattle that have an alternative model which I find appealing (I have no interest in concierge medicine that only caters to the wealthy), but I would love to know if anyone in the MMM community has direct experience in any such models, especially post-ACA.