Women in Healthcare

Family practitioner Denise Hooks-Anderson had a vision of healthcare that was very different from her daily work at a busy clinic in the St. Louis area: “I dreamed of patients coming to a beautiful facility for top-notch care where they knew the physician would take the time to see them and not be rushed,” she says. “I was also looking for more autonomy.”

So two years ago, Hooks-Anderson took a giant leap by opening her own practice in Richmond Heights, Mo. Now, even with a 60-hour work week, she feels she’s achieved greater balance between her home life and the ability to practice medicine as she desires. She can rearrange her schedule to accommodate the needs of her young children, and even bring them into the office.

In many ways, Hooks-Anderson represents a sea change in the medical field. Women make up about 24 percent of working physicians and more than half of incoming medical students. It doesn’t take a statistician to realize that their influence will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. And research has shown that women bring a different perspective to the field, resulting in:

• Better work/life balance for physicians, with a growing trend in part-time schedules
• More consultation time with patients
• Greater attention paid to women’s health issues
• A stronger emphasis on primary care
• Increased service to minority, urban and poor populations

But even as women change the face of medicine, they grapple with the field’s universal issues, including time constraints, advances in technology and the complexities of third-party payments. “I did not feel like I was ready for the business side of owning a practice,” Hooks-Anderson recalls. “It was important to put together a good team around me for support.”

In addition to an accountant and an attorney, Hooks-Anderson hired a consultant to help her set up her business. She also outsourced her billing, which allows her to concentrate on treating patients while remaining confident that the practice’s cash flow is on track. Even so, she estimates that about 30 percent of her time is consumed with administrative duties—an amount in line with experts’ suggestions.

“A woman starting out on her own really needs to make sure she’s well advised,” Hooks-Anderson concludes. “You just can’t ignore the business side of owning a practice.”

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