Respectfully disagree. I don’t work in SoCal but another population dense area in the northeast. Yes you might be slow ramping up but the payoff will be worth it, assuming the employer can wait it out. OP needs to highlight that interventions is what will provide the most value. Others with more experience have given loads of good advice, some of which I’ll use as well, and here’s my own two cents.
It’ll be easy to take on these opioid patients in the short term but eventually your clinic will be overrun by refills. You won’t have the time to bring on many new patients amenable to injections. I’m hospital employed with a strong referral network so YMMV but in the beginning I felt like you did, that I couldn’t or shouldn’t deny anyone. There were a few bad apple PCPs that would load their patients up on high MME and then dump them when they were train wrecks and/or tell the refugees they can get them from me. At the time of the patient visit I would resist and usually decline, resulting in an angry patient. After a few months I already had a few encounters with quite aggressive verbal harassment, and one time a patient met me in the parking lot. Finally I had a frank discussion with the few offending PCPs saying to stop sending me these patients. I rarely get any patients period from them now but it’s no skin off my back as they were horrible referrals 9/10 times. I also set up a screening process like others described. It initially received pushback from my manager, but finally after the events described above they acquiesced and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. You will get the volume you need. It might take a little longer, but the patients will come.
Do yourself a favor OP and don’t wind up on the evening news.
