Nephrology Business Leadership University – A Fellow's Review.

Small Group Los Angeles Dialyspa NBLU 2017

In any academic fellowship, fellows receive excellent clinical training. However, the business aspect of practice often gets less attention. Before you know it you are scrambling to understand contracts, negotiate for a job, figure out billing/coding/reimbursement, understand market trends/growth, and figure out how to market your practice. Nephrology Business Leadership University or NBLU, aims to fill in this gap with a comprehensive 5-day course on understanding the business of Nephrology.

During our five days at NBLU, we learned the basics of insurance, 'red flags' of practices, the future of reimbursements, different practice environments (ie. academic, private, rural) and how to effectively interview/network among a variety of business related topics. Fellows were broken up into small groups and learned concepts in a variety of different teaching environments utilizing multiple interactive tools. In our small groups, we were assigned to a city and came up with a practice name as well as a mission statement. We were provided with an interactive map of our practice area and assessed growth rates to determine where we would open a clinic, which hospitals and dialysis units we planned to affiliate with. By far our favorite session was on billing/coding. This was an interactive session in which fellows were taught to 'think like a coder'; where we critiqued and assigned a level notes of other physicians.

By the end of NBLU, we were both feeling much more at ease about transitioning from fellowship to practice. I am ready to begin interviewing to find a practice that fits my needs. We highly recommend this conference to all freshly minted 2nd year Nephrology fellows interested in learning more about business and Nephrology.

However, the best part of NBLU is meeting and interacting with fellows from all over the country. We gained so much knowledge and now future friends and colleagues. How could you miss this opportunity? It is so much different than a brief meeting at Kidney Week or NKF as this is a 5 day immersion.

If you are interested in attending NBLU, pre-registration is now open for August of 2018, apply here

take some time to listen to the video testaments from this year’s attendees

Natasha Dave, Nephrology Fellow, Baylor Houston

Mona Shaban, Nephrology Fellow, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill