Podcast Episode 29 – “How I Built My Clinical Practice and Sold It for $132 Million” with Dr. Tom Davis

Episode 29 – More and more physicians feel burned out, jaded, and fed up with corporate health care systems. But, over half of all physicians remain in the employed physician model. If that’s the best path for you, no problem! But, Dr. Tom Davis thinks that it’s worth it to be your own boss.
In today’s episode, he’ll tell us how he built a small three-person clinical practice in rural Missouri into a regional powerhouse. Eventually, he sold it for $132 million! You think that couldn’t be you too some day? Well, think again!! Dr. Davis assures us that physician entrepreneurship is alive and well.
If you’re thinking about leaving medicine, maybe you should instead be thinking of ways to leverage your business into a more efficient and more profitable enterprise. This conversation is incredibly inspiring. I’m pumped for you to hear his story and then go out and write a new one of your own!
“The goal you should have is to create systems that are not only thriving, but are anti-fragile.”
– Dr. Tom Davis
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Listen to the episode and leave a review on Apple Podcasts
Meet Dr. Tom Davis
Dr. Tom Davis, MD is THE national expert in value-based healthcare delivery and full-risk insurance contracting. A family physician for over 25 years, angel investor, founder of 6 companies, co-founder of 8, he has successfully managed thousands of patients under Medicare Advantage and other value-based care programs. He is a sought-after consultant, speaker, and trusted advisor.
Before creating Tom Davis Consulting, Tom was a founder and leader of one of the nation’s first value-based health systems, Patients First Healthcare of Washington, Missouri. Dr. Davis helped grow a small primary care medical group into an integrated regional powerhouse.
Today, as the founder and president of Tom Davis Consulting, Tom enables clients to leverage value-based systems for sustainable revenue generation, strong clinician engagement and the delivery of superior patient care. Connect with Dr. Davis at tom@tomdavisconsulting.com.

Free Resource: The 10 Day Simple Clinic Makeover
Join the Business and Personal Finance for Physicians and Dentists Facebook Group!
Most physicians and dentists come out of training programs with a huge amount of personal debt and little to no idea of how to actually run a clinical practice. This Facebook community is for anyone who wants to learn more about how to manage their business more successfully and master their personal finances.
Check out the Doctor Podcast Network!
The Doctor Podcast Network is a group of physician and physician family podcasters with incredible messages to share with physicians. I’m incredibly excited to be a founding member of the organization. We are a large and growing network with incredible outreach.
We podcast about any and all topics that are important to physicians and their families including:
- Financial wellness
- Business mastery and leadership
- Marriage and family support
- Real estate
- and much more!
Click here and come check out the great podcasts that are a part of the network. If you’re thinking about starting a podcast, we’d love to have you join us! Help us reach out to physicians all over the world!
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If you need a little more individualized help figuring out:
- How to build and implement a successful long-term finance strategy
- How to budget effectively without going crazy
- What to do in order to get you and your spouse on the same page with your finances
- Writing a resume
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- Or anything else related to business or personal finance
I’d love to help you so you can have the successful career and financial freedom you deserve. Just click here and email me to set up a free consultation to determine if one-on-one coaching is right for you.
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Click here and email me to set up a free consultation today!
This episode’s sponsor: Student Loan Planner
You may remember Travis Hornsby from episode 14 of the podcast. He and his team of student loan experts have helped physicians pay off millions of dollars in debt and do it faster than you thought you could.
If you want to become debt-free and get the financial security you deserve, you need a plan! That’s what Travis and his team can give you.
If you’d like to connect with Travis, you can go to thescopeofpractice.com/studentloanplanner. By using that link, you’ll be supporting The Scope of Practice at no additional cost to you.
I really appreciate your support, but I think you’ll really appreciate the expertise Travis and his team bring to bear in order to help you crush your student loans and regain the financial freedom you deserve.
Contact Travis today to get started on a personalized plan to crush your student loans!
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Unlike other companies, they are a true independent insurance broker, and one of very few that I trust to take care of physicians when they need it most.
Use this link to get the disability insurance quotes for free! Even if you’re not ready to buy disability insurance today, you can still get the free quotes so you’ll know how much to budget for it.
Show times
- 00:00 – Introduction to episode 29 of The Scope of Practice Podcast.
- 01:17 – Subscribe to the podcast, and please leave a review!
- 02:20 – Join the “Business and Personal Finance for Physicians and Dentists Facebook Group”
- 02:43 – This week’s sponsor is The Student Loan Planner
- 03:36 – Introduction to Dr. Tom Davis.
- 04:36 – Welcome to Dr. Tom Davis. He shares his origin story from a small practice in rural Missouri to selling his practice for $132 million!!
- 07:21 – Dr. Davis says that he was very surprised that he was able to grow the practice to such a massive level.
- 09:33 – As Dr. Tom Davis proved with his entrepreneurship, the employed physician model isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.
- 10:58 – The idea that we are trading autonomy for financial security is nonsense. Financial security is an ILLUSION!!! If you want true financial security, you need multiple streams of revenue and you need to not be dependent on an outside source for your income.
- 13:11 – Not everyone is destined to be a physician owner. That’s ok! But, in that case, you need to develop a skill set to enable you to thrive in the corporate environment.
- 14:35 – Lack of knowledge and expertise in running a business is not a barrier to starting and running a business. An MBA is especialy not required, according to Dr. Tom Davis.
- 17:47 – If you want to scale your business, you need to create systems! Build layers of work and leadership that will amplify your efforts. Automate, delegate, and simplify!
- 22:39 – At what point is it time to bring on new people into your organization? You do it when there is a new value goal that you can’t do without someone.
- 23:59 – The #1 thing that kills new businesses is debt!
- 25:13 – Dr. Davis describes the importance of having multiple streams of revenue. If your only source of revenue is third party payers, you are on very unsteady financial ground.
- 28:19 – The goal you should have is to create systems that are not only thriving, but are anti-fragile. COVID has proven that the most robust systems can crater in a moment if not built on a solid foundation.
- 31:06 – There are no mistakes, only “design opportunities.” Just because something isn’t working the way it was supposed to doesn’t mean it can’t work better.
- 32:06 – Telemedicine is here to stay! Dr. Davis says it’s more efficient and highly desirable for delivering high-value, cost-conscious care. But, it is a net positive or a net negative? Either way, it’s here to stay. Dr. Davis thinks it represents a tremendous opportunity for enterprising clinicians.
- 37:18 – Dr. Davis discusses his foray into side hustles and the transition away from clinical medicine. He says, don’t be afraid to charge for your services. You are worth it! If you want to do it, do it with intentionality!
- 40:33 – How do you achieve work/life balance? If you want to do a side hustle, how do you make sure that you have time for your job and your family.
- 42:44 – Connect to Dr. Tom Davis.
- 44:15 – Summary of the episode.
- 45:07 – This week’s free resource: The 10 Day Simple Clinic Makeover
- 46:18 – signing off
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career, debt, early career, physician, practice management, side gig, side hustle