Business Challenges to Safety Standards in Ketamine Therapy with Dr. Lara Edinger
Synopsis: Gain unique insights and practical challenges of opening a ketamine clinic with Dr. Lara Edinger in this interview excerpt. You will cover the complexities of managing a business, the importance of preparation, and continued need to maintain high safety standards in ketamine therapy.
This blog is an edited and adapted excerpt of the transcript from our podcast episode 6 - Transforming Pain Care: Insights into Ketamine Therapy and Business With Dr. Lara Edinger, which you can listen to below or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcast.
Making a shift to the private practice industry involves a lot of learning about running a business and managing insurance.
Overcoming Business Challenges in Opening a Ketamine Clinic
Sam [00:07:33]: In med school and residency, we're not taught how to open up our own practices. So it was a big leap. So I'm curious. What's an unexpected challenge that you face as you open up your own clinic?
Dr. Edinger [00:08:00]: Trying to figure out how to manage the business side of things was really challenging.
I started off trying to take insurance. I didn't understand that when you first start a practice, the insurance companies will give you the absolute lowest contract they can. I didn't know that actually, my patients told me. I didn't have that many [patients]. And so we were close.
We knew each other very well. They're very complicated and they've been through the health care system a lot. So they actually knew more than I did about insurance and they kept telling me, “You're getting paid a lot less than my other providers.” And I had one patient who advised me, “You need to stop taking insurance now.” So actually it's my patients that helped me out ironically.
Sam: That's perfect. What a gift.
Dr. Edinger: They really helped me out on that.
Finding the right employees for your ketamine clinic is crucial to the success of your business.
Key Advice for New Ketamine Clinic Owners
Sam [00:28:00]: What's one piece of advice that you would give from your many years of experience opening up and operating and running a successful practice?
Dr. Edinger: [00:28:20] From the get go, organization is really, really key and finding the right person is really key. I didn't have a lot of money when I started, I have had a lot of luck with hiring really young people who managed to step up to the task. What’s something that has been also really gratifying that I didn't really even think about is watching employees grow, watching them evolve and have all these skills.
I sent somebody to a phlebotomy course and now she's a phlebotomist. That's a part of it that I didn't really even think about. And it's really rewarding to give jobs to people. To create jobs is really rewarding. But at the same time just preparation is key.
It’s important to ensure proper medical and psychological assessments of your patients before they undergo ketamine therapy.
The Importance of Comprehensive Patient Assessment in Ketamine Therapy
Dr. Edinger [00:32:00]: It's really important to get people medically cleared and psychologically cleared before they go through ketamine therapy. Everybody gets cardiac clearance and psych clearance. In my case, they might get pulmonary clearance for sleep apnea or if they need a CPAP machine. It can go on and on and on depending what their problems are.
If they're somebody who’s older, definitely get a cardiac clearance, even if it's low dose. Just do it because you don't know. People can become very hypertensive. It can be surprising, like out of nowhere. It doesn't happen very often, but it can. So we just have to mitigate all the risks we can, and that will keep our industry safe too. We’ll all be able to continue doing this if we take these precautions.
Caring for your patients not only means protecting your patients, but the reputation of the ketamine therapy industry as well.
Maintaining Safety and Standards in Ketamine Therapy
Dr. Edinger [00:35:33]: I have everything you can think of that you might need, every drug you can think of that you might need. Because I have to operate in the absolute safest way I possibly can. For the sake of my patients first of all, but also for the sake of our industry.
It protects me and everybody else who gets into this field. We're all responsible. We're going to do this the right way.
Sam: I love how you're not only thinking about you and your patients, but also like the industry as a whole. There can be some possibly bad actors or some people doing some strange, unusual things
Dr. Edinger: I do worry about that. I came from an era when I first told people I was involved in a program doing ketamine, everyone thought I was insane. They thought I was in some fringe program. I basically got laughed at during a conference. I went down and like, I had a poster presentation and they all just thought I was nuts and rolled their eyes.
I came from an era where it was considered totally crazy and now I'm just really, really happy that it's out there and people are using it. I want to support that and I want to help other physicians get started. I think that every pain physician out there should be able to offer ketamine. This is one of the things in our toolbox.
How many patients are gonna be saved if more pain physicians provide ketamine or people will be prevented from even developing severe CRPS/ Right.
Sam: I love that.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the discussion on YouTube here.
Connect with Dr. Edinger at:
Gain unique insights and practical challenges of opening a ketamine clinic with Dr. Lara Edinger in this interview excerpt. You will cover the complexities of managing a business, the importance of preparation, and continued need to maintain high safety standards in ketamine therapy.
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