Have you Changed Jobs, Retired Early or Pivoted to Non-Clinical Work?
Friday, October 10, 2025
Protecting Your Career and Legacy: MSSNY Partners with Altfest for Smarter Planning
Click to Enlarge
Physicians are experiencing unprecedented career shifts. A recent analysis found that 62% of doctors have changed jobs, retired early, or pivoted to non-clinical work within the past two years. These rapid transitions expose the weaknesses of conventional estate plans, which often assume steady income and a predictable retirement timeline. For physicians, such assumptions can leave families without access to critical cash, stall practice transitions, and trigger unexpected tax or liability risks.
Common problems arise when generic wills or static living trusts fail to anticipate realities such as tail coverage premiums, partnership buy-sell clauses, or private equity earn-outs. Without proper planning, practices can lose value, credit lines can be strained, and patient care may be disrupted during succession.
The solution is responsive, physician-focused estate planning that adapts to career shifts and integrates digital safeguards. This includes:
- Ensuring immediate liquidity if income is interrupted.
- Pre-authorizing succession authority so trusted colleagues can step in seamlessly.
- Using digital estate management tools that secure practice logins, EHRs, and DEA credentials, ensuring compliance and operational continuity.
Recognizing these unique challenges, MSSNY is proud to announce Altfest Wealth Management as a new Business Solutions Partner. Altfest is a nationally recognized, Barron’s- and WSJ-featured firm with deep experience guiding physicians through complex financial decisions. As a fiduciary, fee-only advisor, Altfest prioritizes your interests with customized strategies for investments, retirement planning, tax efficiency, and practice transitions.
New York physicians already working with Altfest highlight its impact: “Having been an Altfest client since 2005, my wife and I have relied upon them for financial advice as our concerns and needs changed and most importantly, for trustworthy management of our funds… We have accomplished more with Altfest as our trusted partner than we could have alone,” shared Dr. Henry B., Hepatologist*. Others praised their guidance through volatile markets and their consistent, proactive care over more than a decade.
MSSNY’s partnership with Altfest reflects our commitment to helping physicians succeed in practice and protect their long-term financial security and family legacy.
*These testimonials are provided by actual clients of Altfest Personal Wealth Management. Individual experiences may vary, and past performance or satisfaction does not guarantee future results. The information presented should not be considered investment, tax, or legal advice. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Prospective clients should carefully evaluate their own financial circumstances and consult with appropriate professionals before making any financial decisions.
Why static estate plans can derail physicians amid career changes (Enders, Medical Economics, 10/7).
Dr. William Valenti Announces Retirement from Trillium Health
Click to Enlarge
If you’ve participated in MSSNY Medical Matters over the past 20 years, you are surely familiar with Dr. Bill Valenti, the epicenter of MSSNY’s CME offerings. The long-time Chair of MSSNY’s Infectious Diseases Committee, Dr. Valenti has consistently been at the forefront of MSSNY’s and the NYS DOH’s public health efforts in the epidemiology and infectious diseases arena—offering sage advice and guidance to countless learners on topics ranging from vector borne diseases to vaccine preventable diseases, infection control and COVID.
Dr. Valenti, a nationally recognized HIV/AIDS physician who co-founded the organization that would eventually become Trillium Health, announced that he will be stepping down from his position after a long and distinguished career. He co-founded Community Health Network in 1989 – an HIV/AIDS clinic that served patients during a time of widespread fear, uncertainty, and stigma against the LGBTQ+ community. He stood at the front lines of the HIV/AIDS crisis for decades – shaping the region’s medical response, advising federal and state health agencies, and supporting research that led to advances in treatment and prevention. Over the years, Community Health Network evolved to become Trillium Health, which is now a Federally Qualified Health Center serving 20,000 patients and clients across Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes.
MSSNY has been fortunate to have someone as knowledgeable and as well respected as Dr. Valenti to be part of our educational faculty and committee leadership. Please join MSSNY in wishing Dr. Valenti a well-deserved, healthy, happy, and extended retirement. We are grateful that his retirement will allow him more time to educate his fellow physicians as he continues serving on MSSNY’s Infectious Diseases Committee and as a presenter for our CME programs.
White House AI Action Plan Puts Healthcare in the Spotlight
Click to Enlarge
The White House’s recently released Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan underscores healthcare as one of the few industries specifically identified for immediate regulatory transformation. This recognition signals a profound shift in how research, drug approvals, and clinical care will be conducted in the coming years. For physicians, these developments present both challenges and opportunities that demand proactive engagement.
The FDA’s earlier Elsa initiative already hinted at a move toward AI-enabled infrastructure. Now, the AI Action Plan reinforces this trajectory by calling for AI-generated hypotheses, AI-informed research designs, and AI-assisted experiments as part of future scientific and regulatory processes. Such changes will reshape the foundation of clinical research, requiring physicians to navigate new standards for transparency, data-sharing, and compliance.
For practicing physicians, this means anticipating what regulators—and AI itself—will demand in evaluating protocols, outcomes, and patient safety. Beyond compliance, the plan signals a broader cultural shift: organizations that embrace innovation will gain agility, while those that resist may face regulatory friction and reduced competitiveness.
White House AI Action Plan: What Healthcare Leaders Must Do Now (Elton, MedCityNews, 10/7).
Tell Governor Hochul to Veto S.4423/A.6063
Click to Enlarge
- 4423/A.6063 would exponentially expand wrongful death damages, with no cost controls, threatening New York’s fragile healthcare system.
- Premiums for specialties like OB-GYN and surgery could rise by $60,000–$76,000 annually, forcing physicians out of practice and leaving patients with fewer care options
- MSSNY urges all physicians to speak out and join our advocacy to ensure Governor Hochul vetoes this bill once again.
New York physicians are facing another attempt by the Legislature to dramatically expand liability costs through S.4423/A.6063, a bill amending the state’s wrongful death law. This proposal, nearly identical to versions Governor Hochul previously vetoed, would exponentially increase damages awardable in wrongful death lawsuits. Crucially, it contains no balancing provisions to offset costs, leaving physicians and hospitals to absorb staggering insurance premium hikes.
Independent actuarial studies show that this legislation could drive medical liability premiums up nearly 40%, compounding an already dire situation. For example, an OB-GYN on Long Island could see premiums rise by more than $76,000 annually, while a surgeon could face increases of over $61,000. Many already stretched-thin physician practices cannot sustain such costs.
The consequences go far beyond physicians’ bottom lines. Higher premiums and escalating liability risks will accelerate physician shortages, close hospitals and practices, especially in underserved and rural areas, and make timely access to care even harder for patients. Trauma, stroke, and cardiac patients could face longer waits for treatment, with life-threatening implications. New York already leads the nation in malpractice payouts, exceeding states like Pennsylvania, Florida, and California by wide margins, because, unlike those states, New York has no caps or systemic controls on liability costs.
Governor Hochul herself previously noted that bills of this type “would likely have resulted in higher costs to patients and consumers” and would further strain “already-distressed healthcare workers and institutions.” Those concerns remain unaddressed in this year’s legislation.
MSSNY stands firm with allied medical organizations in calling for the Governor to veto this bill again. Additionally, this week, 45 county medical societies joined MSSNY in a joint communication urging the Governor to veto the bill. Comprehensive tort reform is needed to reduce costs and preserve fairness, not one-sided proposals that worsen New York’s reputation as one of the most difficult states to practice medicine.
N.Y. Physician to Focus on Community as AAFP President
Click to Enlarge
MSSNY member Dr. Sarah Nosal, a family physician in the Bronx, has been installed as president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, emphasizing community-focused family medicine and innovative health care. Nosal is vice president for innovation and optimization and chief medical information officer at the Institute for Family Health and has held key roles at the AAFP, the New York State Academy of Family Physicians and the Medical Society of the State of New York.
Full Story: Patient Care (10/6)
CMS Confirms IDR Process Active, During Shutdown
Click to Enlarge
The federal government shutdown is sending ripples across healthcare, but some critical processes remain intact. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has confirmed that the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process—a key mechanism for settling out-of-network billing disputes between providers and payers—will remain operational. Physicians can continue to submit disputes through the online portal, and licensed mediators will process them under existing timelines. However, CMS cautioned that a prolonged shutdown could cause delays in reviews and response times, given limited resources.
How the Shutdown Impacts Healthcare: Independent Dispute Resolution Process Continues Amid Shutdown (Beavins, Fiercehealthcare, 10/7).
