In this episode of Life of Flow, we sit down with Preston Alexander, co-founder of Forward Slash Health, for a practical conversation about the business side of private practice. Preston shares how he went from medical device product management to healthcare startups, consulting, revenue cycle work, and building a financial management platform for independent practices. We talk through the financial blind spots many physicians face when they leave employed medicine, including revenue cycle, cash flow, accounts receivable, accounts payable, outsourcing, staffing, and why understanding the numbers matters if you want to build a sustainable practice.
07:30 Preston’s path from MBA to medical devices and healthcare business
09:01 Using LinkedIn to learn how healthcare really works
11:02 How Forward Slash Health started from private practice pain points
18:27 Why Miguel keeps his revenue cycle team close to the practice
24:04 Cash flow, seasonality, and why big checks can be misleading
35:00 Where private practices commonly leak money
42:40 Why “doctors are bad at business” misses the point
54:30 What to know before outsourcing revenue cycle management
57:35 How to connect with Preston and Forward Slash Health
Who Should Listen
This episode is for physicians, surgeons, private practice owners, and doctors thinking about leaving the hospital system to build something independent. It’s also useful for anyone in healthcare operations who wants a clearer understanding of how revenue cycle, staffing, vendor relationships, and cash flow affect a practice.
About Preston Alexander
Preston Alexander is the CEO and co-founder of Forward Slash Health and Chief Operating Officer at Underscore Law. His background spans healthcare business, medical device product management, digital health, revenue cycle work, and private practice financial management. In the episode, he shares how his path from earning an MBA to working inside healthcare companies, launching and selling a medical device company, and helping build independent practices led him to focus on the financial systems physicians need to understand when running a practice.
Connect with Preston
💼 LinkedIn: Preston Alexander
🗞️ Substack: The Healthcare Breakdown
About Locumstory
Locumstory is a free, unbiased educational resource about locum tenens to answer your questions about the how-tos of locums on their website, podcast, webinars, videos, and a locums 101 crash course.
Visit locumstory.com to find out if locum tenens makes sense for you and your career goals.
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If this conversation made you think differently about the business side of medicine, share it with a colleague who’s building, running, or considering an independent practice. And if you’re enjoying Life of Flow, a quick review helps more physicians and healthcare leaders find conversations like this.
