Send us Fan MailNobody warns you that medicine is also payroll, leases, audits and phones that never stop ringing. We sit down with Dr Mike Daniels, a podiatrist with an MBA and the president and CMO of WeTreatFeet, to talk about the business of being a doctor and what happens when clinical training collides with the realities of running an insurance-based healthcare practice in the US.We get into the moment many clinicians face: you can look after patients brilliantly, but still feel lost when you have to hire and lead a team, manage cash flow, negotiate with payers, and survive declining reimbursement. Mike explains why overhead is so high in American healthcare, how the revenue cycle works from documentation and coding through claim scrubbing and clearinghouses, and why “just see more patients” eventually breaks both quality and capacity.From there, we explore what it means to build an organisation rather than a single practice. Mike shares how service lines like durable medical equipment, diabetic shoes, wound supplies, compression garments, in-office procedures and clinical trials can improve patient compliance and satisfaction while diversifying revenue. We also talk expansion strategy: acquisition versus starting a new site, the churn that follows a practice purchase, and the internal resistance that comes with any operational change.If you’re a clinician, practice owner, or healthcare leader thinking about sustainable growth, physician entrepreneurship, or an eventual exit strategy, this conversation offers a clear-eyed look at the trade-offs and the skills nobody teaches. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest question about the business side of medicine.GUEST BIOGRAPHYDr. Mikel Daniels, DPM, MBA is a podiatrist, healthcare executive and President, CMO and Managing Member of WeTreatFeet Podiatry and WeTreatFeet MSO, LLC.Over his career, Dr. Daniels has progressed from clinical practice and partnership into the development of a broader podiatric platform incorporating multiple offices and service lines. His experience spans patient care, practice operations, medical billing, healthcare administration, clinical trials and the financial realities of operating within the US insurance-based healthcare system.Alongside his clinical training, Dr. Daniels earned an MBA in healthcare administration, an experience he describes as learning the “language of business” and finance. Today, his perspective combines the responsibilities of a practising physician with those of an owner and healthcare executive navigating growth, staffing, reimbursement pressure and long-term succession.Contact DetailsWebsite: https://www.wetreatfeet.com/LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmikeldaniels/Additional website: https://thepodiatryvoice.com/X: @DrMikelDanielsSubscribe on SubstackVoices in Health and Wellness is published on Substack, as part of The Diagnostician. Every episode lands there with written notes and reflections you won't find in the podcast feed. Free to subscribe.👉 https://thediagnostician.substack.com/s/voices-in-health-and-wellnessAbout the podcastVoices in Health and Wellness features conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential, with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.About Dr Andrew GreenlandUK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. Trained in both conventional and root-cause approaches, Andrew helps people optimise health, performance, and longevity, with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related