Independent Physician Spotlight: Susan Gunduz
New feature! We put out a call to celebrate independent physicians, and we’re featuring a different doctor who’s decided to go (or remain!) independent to restore their autonomy and provide better patient care. This week, meet Susan Gunduz, an independent pediatrician and the Founder of SoundWise4Kids. You can connect further with Susan on LinkedIn.
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On/Offcall is the weekly dose of information and inspiration that every physician needs.
1. Susan, give us a little background on you and your practice. I finished my Pediatric residency in the early 1990’s and then worked with an independent pediatrician who retired a few years later. I watched and followed everything she did and visited other independent pediatric practices before starting my own practice.
2. What were the biggest challenges for you as you decided to go independent? All practices were independent when I started my Pediatric practice. The concept of fee for service was still in existence and the managed care insurance movement was just beginning. I was able to adjust to the change over time as more commercial insurers were changing their model from fee for service to copay and capitation. Over time, due to each commercial insurer having different rules and regulations, getting paid for your services and keeping track of how to review the payments and resubmit claims became more difficult to keep track of. Organization to detail is essential and today, with electronic medical records, it has become more manageable. Now, with AI and AI agents, it will become even easier.
3. What have the biggest benefits been for both you and your patients? There are many benefits of being independent. You are able to spend the extra time with each patient. Certain visits require more time and therefore provide peace of mind for the family. This is important since it provides the patient with self assurance and confidence and elevates your reputation. Also, being able to spend the extra time with patients gives you the ability to create more solutions necessary to become efficient for patient flow.
As an independent physician, I'm able to join independent practice associations that can negotiate prices from insurers. I am also able to follow the trend of how patients want to be communicated with (I instituted text messaging for appointments 15 years ago and this is very successful), as well as what services are most important to them and how they prefer to receive these services. My patients provide me with the ability to grow into a successful independent practice by listening to their concerns.
As an independent, I'm also able to observe the obstacles that my patients are confronted with, such as long waiting times for early intervention services. As a result, I'm able to create solutions to help my patients get services faster. Being independent makes you innovative and force you to think of solutions that lead to better patient satisfaction. You have to keep costs down, and at the same time, deliver excellent service.
4. What's your advice to anyone who's thinking about making the leap or deciding what path to take straight out of training? You must spend time in an independent practice and see how it is run. This practice should be a speciality you are pursuing. Today, a Pediatric office is required to hold two sets of vaccines. One is for privately insured patients and one is for Medicaid insured patients. Knowing how to manage two sets of vaccines without losing income on vaccines is vital. Insurance companies are not generous in their compensation of vaccinating children and therefore you must be aware of your inventory each day.
There are still obstacles I have not solved, like preventing downcoding when claims come back and prior authorization services that should not occur. I was able to speak directly to one insurance company about prior authorization issues and made changes for my practice.
5. Are there any resources you can recommend to help physicians who are considering this pathway? Reach out to an independent practice in your area and watch how they do their day to day operations. Speak to the person in charge of the business operations. Observation of how they approach their employees, patients, and their vision for growth is crucial.
6. How can other physicians who are inspired support you? I encourage any pediatrician to reach out to me, and I would be more than happy to meet with them.
Connect with Susan on LinkedIn and learn more about her practice here.
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On/Offcall is the weekly dose of information and inspiration that every physician needs.
Founder of SoundWise4Kids, an interactive early childhood assessment, grounded in pediatric medical science, that evaluates speech, language, fine motor, and social-emotional skills. Using advanced AI technology, it identifies developmental gaps early and provides targeted intervention to help children succeed in school. Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor Department of Pediatrics at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Stony Brook University Hospital Clinical Instructor Department of Pediatrics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine Founder of Northport Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine located in Huntington NY. Providing Pediatric care with emphasis on School Readiness, Behavioral and Mental Health Board Certified in Pediatrics and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for Pediatric Primary Care. Instructor of Medical Students, Pediatric Residents, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners Instructor of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care Member of Medical Intelligence Society in Artificial Intelligence Co-founder of IPCLI ( Independent Pediatric Collaborative of Long Island ), a Pediatric clinical integrated group devoted to educating the families we serve on how to improve insurance coverage for children.