Medical practice in which the practitioner and his practice are independent of any external policy control. It usually requires that the practitioner be self-employed, except when he is salaried by a partnership in which he is a partner with similar practitioners. It is sometimes wrongly used synonymously with either fee-for-service practice (the practitioner may sell his services by another method; i.e., capitation); or solo practice {group practice may be private). Note that physicians practice in many different settings and there is no agreement as to which of these does or does not constitute private practice. Regulation, which does exert external control, is not generally felt to make all practice public. The opposite of private practice is not necessarily public, in the sense of employment by government. Practitioners salaried by private hospitals are not usually thought to be in private practice. (The professional staff thought this a difficult concept to define but the 13-year-old son of a physician got it started, saying, ”That’s easy. Practice of your own, charging what you want.”)
The services of a doctor, surgeon or dentist which are paid for by the patients themselves or by a medical insurance company, but not by the National Health Service.
The practice by a health care professional, usually a physician or dentist, in a setting in which the practice and the practitioner are independent of external policy control other than ethics of the professional and state licensing laws.
A working arrangement in which a physician works for himself or herself.