A Message to the Healthcare Professionals Still Trying to Get It Right

I’ve been working on something that’s been on my heart for quite some time.

It’s called The Cost of Doing Right: Protecting Patients, Preserving Trust, and Making Ethical Independent Healthcare Sustainable.

And if you’re a healthcare professional who has ever wondered whether doing the right thing is becoming a business disadvantage, I’m writing this for you.

When I started building my practice, I was fortunate to learn from some incredible physicians.

A local gynecologist assigned as my mentor was an early pioneer in hormone therapy in our area. A prominent local cardiologist I worked with often reminded me that he had never advertised his practice.

Those lessons stayed with me.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. Times have changed. Healthcare is a business, and those of us in independent, self-pay practices understand that visibility, marketing, and financial sustainability matter.

We have bills to pay, employees to support, and families who depend on us.

But somewhere along the way, I think we need to ask ourselves a question:

Are we building businesses around the healthcare we believe patients need, or are we building healthcare services around what we believe patients will buy?

I believe in innovation. I believe in entrepreneurship. I believe healthcare professionals deserve to make a good living.

But I also believe we can do those things without compromising our clinical judgment, disparaging our colleagues, or turning every patient encounter into a sales opportunity.

I have colleagues who are technically my competitors but are also some of my closest professional friends. We collaborate, share frustrations, and refer patients to one another when it’s the right thing to do. We talk openly about the frustration lately about what I now affectionately call “Big Wellness”.

Because there’s room for more than one good healthcare professional. Collaboration and support matters every single time. If you hear it, trust me, our patients do too!

And patients deserve to find the one who’s right for them.

To the clinician just starting out: You don’t have to climb over someone else to get to the top. We are happy to help you not re-invent the wheel.

To the provider wondering whether you need to offer every trending treatment to stay competitive: You don’t.

To the independent practice owner who’s exhausted from trying to provide affordable, responsible care while keeping the doors open: I see you, I hear you.

And to the professional who has ever watched a patient walk away because you wouldn’t offer something you couldn’t clinically justify: I understand.

But, you don’t have to give up.

Keep learning. Keep asking questions. Keep practicing within your expertise. Keep referring when someone else can better serve your patient.

And don’t be afraid to tell people what you do well. Ethical healthcare still needs good marketing and even sometimes just education from a professional and not a influencer so patients can find it.

I’m not writing this because I have all the answers. I’m writing it because I believe we need a conversation about how to preserve the integrity of healthcare (traditional and in the wellness space) while making it financially sustainable for the professionals delivering it….and safe for the patients.

This isn’t about traditional medicine versus wellness medicine.

It’s not about med spas and wellness centers versus primary care.

And it’s certainly not about criticizing other healthcare professionals (despite what you think is a “lower” credential”) who have built successful businesses.

The name on the building doesn’t determine the standard of care. The care being delivered does.

I believe there are still so many good healthcare professionals out there.

And I believe patients are looking for them.

So if you’re one of the good ones, please don’t lose sight of why you started.

Be one of the good ones. Your patients are looking for you.

More to come.

Jennifer Munksgard, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC
Owner and Provider, To Your Health and Wellness, LLC