Clinical Direct Care interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your training + practice so far.
2. Tell me about your current practice or most recent role.
3. Why a private physician group over hospital-employed or academic?
4. Why this specialty / care setting?
5. Why the firm?
6. What's your read on our partnership track + economics?
7. Tell me what you understand about our patient population + payer mix.
8. Tell me about a diagnostic dilemma in your practice.

Technical concepts to master

• Productivity + RVU literacy

  Work RVU (wRVU) · Total RVU + GPCI · Collections vs charges vs reimbursement · Overhead percentage · MGMA benchmarks

• Partnership track + buy-in economics

  Partnership track · Buy-in mechanism · Profit share + ancillary income · Governance + voting

• Payer + ancillary strategy

  Payer contract negotiation · Ancillary services · Value-based contracts (ACO / MA) · Hospital affiliation + IPA

Practical drills

• A 48-year-old establishes care with vague abdominal pain x 6 weeks + 3 kg weight loss. You have 30 minutes for the new patient visit. Walk through your triage, differential, workup, follow-up - AND how the ancillary options at your practice (in-house ultrasound, lab) shape the plan.
• You're 18 months in. Your panel is 1,200 patients - 60% Medicare, 30% commercial, 10% Medicaid. The practice wants you at 1,800 by end of year 2. Walk through your strategy for the next 12 months.
• The practice's average wait time for established patients to get a routine follow-up has grown from 3 weeks to 7. Patients are leaving. What's your approach?

Smart-question anchors

• Partnership track + buy-in - timeline, criteria, mechanism, recent track record
• Comp model + productivity - structure, targets, MGMA reference, ancillary share
• Payer mix + contracts - in-network status, contract negotiation cycle, value-based exposure
• Ancillary services + ownership - what's in-house, partner sharing, growth plans
• Governance + decision-making - structure, voting, committees, partner culture

Sourced from

MGMA DataDive (annual) · AMA Resource on Physician Practice Models + Partnership · CMS RUC + Medicare PFS + GPCI documentation · OIG Stark Law + Anti-Kickback Statute compliance guidance · NCQA HEDIS + CMS MIPS + Star Ratings program documents (2025)