PUTTING PATIENTS AT EASE
In silvery scrubs reminiscent of “Star Trek,” the docs look like jocks. In
fact, they are. Langley is a surfer, Visser a former decathlete. And as they
walk each patient out to the front desk, it’s as if they’re talking to a pal.
This is the kind of patient-friendly atmosphere they’ve had in mind since
early med school.
“We were both exercise physiology majors,” Langley said. “We cared a lot
“We were ready to start a practice, but we had no clue what we were
doing,” Visser said. “We figured the safest route would be to try to partner
with a hospital.”
They negotiated with an Orlando hospital to help them build a new
practice.
“There’s a lot of planning, and it takes time to start a practice, so during
that time we worked in the emergency room,” Visser said. “But the process
about staying active and being physically fit. But we knew the experience was taking longer than expected with the hospital, so we decided, after a
that we wanted patients to have was going to be more customer-focused. year, to say: ‘Hey, we’re going to go try it on our own.’”
We evaluated the best customer-service companies, like Disney and the
Ritz-Carlton, to see what they did, and thought: Why can’t we do that in a
medical practice?”
Off they went. They had a business plan, Langley said, and that’s what
banks need to see.
“They want numbers,” Visser added. “‘What’s your three-year pro forma
For starters, they didn’t want their office to feel like a clinic. or estimates?’ ‘How much do we give you?’ ‘What’s the money going
“We did the beachy-spa theme with grays, light blues and whites,” Visser toward?’”
said. “We put up some shiplap, oars and plantation shutters.” And even
though it violated the designer’s color scheme, they hung framed FSU
jerseys.
Their answers included a lot of guesswork, Visser laughed, “but I will say
we were pretty close.”
“Each practice has certain expenses that recur each month,” Langley said.
“Everything from biomedical waste to keeping the power on to salaries.”
GETTING STARTED
Both did their family medicine residency training at USF’s Morton Plant
“We were lucky enough to be introduced to an OB-GYN provider who
had just started to practice, and she connected us with a lot of stuff, like
Mease Family Medicine Program, in Clearwater. After three years, Visser IT people,” Visser said. “A health-care attorney friend connected us with
stayed on for a fellowship in sports medicine. Langley worked a year with an insurance contractor after we tried to do it ourselves.” Several faculty
Suncoast Hospice. members provided good advice, as well. “We got as much data as we could,
Visser
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