NPpeeon

Turn them into the board of healing arts. You have a legal and moral obligation to do so.

That makes it even easier. Get a lawyer, and get out of that contract. It would be best for you to set them up by finding a way for them to fire you in a matter so you can sue them for wrongful termination. Sooner or later, this world is going to have to get rid of all the BS politics and laws and documentation and HIPAA and blah blah blah and just do the right thing. When they don't, you strategically position yourself and retire early with a nice settlement.

We all get this. The universal answer has been given. You can apply whatever twist you like, but "it's illegal, and I could lose my license, job, and career, and be arrested" usually works for me.

I don't blame you, I get rid of patients every week for a lot less than that. At some point we have to require that adults act like adults and hold them accountable for their behavior. Our country already gives them rewards for not working and having more and more kids regardless of their ability to raise them. You could always say, "Fine, keep them in the clinic, but I better not see them on my schedule". If that won't fly with the powers that be in your administrative architecture, start looking for a new job. Life's too short...

Generally speaking, if you're a sharp, hard working person and good at talking to people, you'll do fine independently in any business that you have special knowledge of. Medicine (whatever the letters) is no different. You'll have to save up to support yourself during the first 6-12 months until you turn profitable, and this may be as quickly as a month or as long as 12 months or more depending on the setting, type of service, and how you're paid (cash, govt, insurance, etc). But don't let the ads for NP jobs vs the ads for MD jobs fool you. They are simply averages, and if you settle for average, you'll fit right into what those say. But, you can find and make situations that will get you paid well. You just have to know a little about how much you're worth in your setting, find a setting that you're very valuable in, and negotiate accordingly. Once I started at $95K/yr and after a year and a half and some brutal negotiations, I was at $230K/yr. Most of you will say, yeah right, but it's 100% accurate and true. I left that deal (yes, sometimes I think I'm crazy for it) but now have a deal paying the same and working around 28 hours a week. I don't have as good of a benefits package as before, but also have no ER call now ). And, I'm starting a new biz that may be worth millions... so, by all means, DON'T settle for the laughable forty bucks or so an hour unless you're setting up your negotiations later. The sky is the limit, for now... we'll see what the govt does to it.

Just out of curiosity, what is "great $$" these days? I got a call from a recruiter about an ER locum tenans temp assignment for a laughable $40/hour. I remember years ago when I got that as a RN working agency/temp stuff. I told them about it too... and I think we all need to stand up together and take the 85% of the docs salary that we're reimbursed by medicare, or at least 70-75%. I think our average at this time is about 50% of the average family practice doc. It makes me ******* sick.