The Strange Intersection of Health Care and Business

One of the things I have struggled with most since opening a private clinic is the intersection between health care and business.

Health care itself is not a business to me.

I became a nurse to care for people. My professional responsibilities do not change based on whether a service is publicly funded, privately paid for or elective. Assessment, informed consent, safety, privacy, documentation, competence and accountability still matter.

The uncomfortable reality of private practice

But there is an uncomfortable reality for health-care professionals working outside of the publicly funded system: sometimes, in order to make a health-care service available, you have to operate a business.

The rent still has to be paid. Equipment has to be purchased and maintained. Supplies have to be stocked. Insurance, education, technology, staffing, infection-prevention systems and professional oversight all cost money.

And at the same time, I am still a nurse.

That creates a responsibility that I think is worth talking about.

Two responsibilities in the same room

As a business owner, I need people to know my clinic exists. As a nurse, I never want someone to feel that they have been convinced they need a treatment that they do not need.

As a business owner, I need to explain what services I offer. As a nurse, I need to explain the limitations, risks, alternatives and situations in which I would recommend doing nothing at all.

Those two responsibilities can exist in the same room, but they have to be handled carefully.

That is especially true in aesthetic medicine, where social media has blurred the lines between education, entertainment, advertising and health information.

My goal is not to turn health care into a commodity.

My goal is to operate a sustainable clinic that allows me to provide the kind of care I believe in — while continuing to behave like a nurse first.

And I think that is a tension many health-care professionals in private practice quietly carry.