The Ins and Outs: This physician helps colleagues transform the future of value-based care
Learn how Rhoda Donat-Flowers, DO, leveraged her business expertise to create strategies that transform healthcare, shape industry trends, and drive real results.
Entrepreneurship
March 19, 2025
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Meet Rhoda Donat-Flowers, DO
She is a physician, entrepreneur, speaker, consultant, and mother.
After joining a group to scale an urgent care organization, Rhoda Donat-Flowers, DO, gained invaluable experience. She went on to start, grow, and sell two of her own private practices, deepening her understanding of both business and the future of healthcare. Today, Rhoda helps physicians navigate revenue growth, value-based care, buy and optimizing operations through her expertise in PCMH and FQHC consulting. With a high-touch, high-tech, high-impact approach, she supports business owners staying ahead of industry trends, helps those ready to sell, and guides owners in business growth strategies. Rhoda also works with entrepreneurs eager to buy practices and operators looking to implement scalable systems for long-term success.
She graduated from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, has a masters in public administration and is working towards her MBA.
When did you first become aware of or interested in medicine?
At a young age, maybe six or seven years old, I knew I wanted to be a physician.
Growing up, my older sister sustained a third-degree burn over 50% of her body which required a lot of dressing changes and care, and my grandmother, who lived with us and several aunts and family members were also ill. My mother was essentially the caretaker for everyone, and so I saw the medical system up close and also saw that process of her taking care of them and seeing them go from pain to feeling better.
However, I also saw some of the disparities in care and how my family was treated in the medicinal system. By noticing these differences, I was inspired to offer medical services and provide care that was value based, quality and compassionate - regardless of who was in front of me.
I'm singularly minded—once I fixate on something, that's what I will do. And that was medicine for me.
Business also intrigued me as a kid. My father and the men of the community often talked about business, real estate and other related fields, but culturally, that was the “boys' territory”. So, although it was fascinating to me, I wasn't allowed to venture into that space.
So, I always had that in the back of my mind, and I say that way because now that's what I do, but it interested me even back then.
Ask yourself:
Biography
Name
Rhoda Donat-Flowers, DO
Residency
Speciality
Growth and Acquisition Strategist
Sub-specialities
Practicing since
2009
Location
New Jersey
Current Role
How did you know what medical specialty to focus on?
Ignorance is bliss. I knew nothing.
My parents were immigrants from Haiti, so I had zero idea of how I would even become a doctor, although I had a measure of confidence that I was going to be a doctor.
My father came to the United States with $17 in his pocket, with the shirt on his back, so the idea of even going to college was no guarantee. It was just a dream, a hope, if you will.
I had no clue about specialty, even in medical school.
It was just, "Wow, I'm here. Amazing."
In med school they really encouraged primary care due to the shortage that has only gotten worse. If I had to do it over again, there are other specialties that I would have chosen for my lifestyle. I really appreciate the depth and breadth of my experience because I've done critical care, primary care, urgent care, anti-aging medicine, subacute rehab, and long-term care, etc.
Essentials
Favorites
- Top 3 things you love to do with your free time?
Theatre, Enjoy Nature, Be with friends and family.
- What’s one ingredient you put in everything?
love...
Leisure & Culture
- Top 3 travel destinations (and why)?
Only 3?! 1. Africa – The cradle of humanity, where breathtaking safaris, rich cultures, and vibrant landscapes remind you of the vastness of life’s beauty and resilience. 2. Eastern Caribbean – Turquoise waters, lush islands, and a rhythm that slows time itself—perfect for restoration, adventure, and reconnecting with yourself. 3. Western Caribbean – A fusion of history, soul-stirring music, and untamed beauty, where every sunset feels like a reminder to live boldly and love deeply.
- What’s your current TV obsession?
Prison Break
Rituals
- What’s your favorite time of day?
Early morning sunrise.
- Go-to snack to power through a long day at work?
Teriyaki Beef Jerky.
- Best way to take a rest/decompress?
In a sensory deprivation float!
So far...
- Most adventurous thing you’ve done in your life?
Started a business! - Best piece of advice you’ve received (and from who)?
When someone shows you who they are- believe them. Maya Angelou
- Best gift you’ve ever received (or given)?
...the gift of life.
Essentials
- How would you describe yourself in three words?
Innovative, Creative, Tenacious
- If you made a documentary, what would it be about?
The Phoenix: Rising our of the Ashes - Advice you’d give your teenage / residency self?
You cannot pour from an empty cup, nor heal with empty hands. Rest is not a reward—it is the foundation. Breathe deeply, trust yourself, and remember: the ones who give the most must learn to receive. Protect your fire, or you will burn out before you ever get to shine.
What's a misconception about your specialty?
Other specialties underestimate the impact that we have on a patient.
Everyone comes to primary care, and even when specialists are involved, they don't necessarily see and address the whole picture. Be it concierge, traditional or value-based medicine, PCMH or FQHC models, we remain integral throughout the entire care continuum.
We are the first point of contact. We are every next point of contact. We're also the last point of contact. We see the whole picture. We're at every point.
We're playing quarterback, and I don't think we're appreciated enough for that.
What have been the major changes in your field since starting out?
The year I graduated was when the 80-hour work week started.
One of the biggest changes is embracing self care and work-life balance in medicine. There were weeks when I remember being awake, eyes open, 10 toes down for five days straight.
The second big change is the momentum towards value-based care—a movement focused on higher quality and lower costs. This approach is transforming how healthcare is paid for and delivered, emphasizing outcomes and efficiency over volume. Emerging models are lowering costs while facilitating higher quality care. By negotiating directly with top-quality providers, driving cost savings for employers- which are passed on to patients and offering their populations nationwide access to the best specialty care. This shift is reshaping healthcare, making it more sustainable, patient-centered, and cost-effective.
I remember being in primary care and receiving a check for $0.13 for reimbursement and really questioning all of my life choices.
Typical reimbursement in primary care was between $97 and $127, so it [the thirteen cents] was literally not worth the paper it was printed on.
What annoyed me and hurt me the most was that it was a complicated patient who had kidney problems, heart problems, and liver problems. I spent time with that patient and provided value to that patient. The patient got the care, but they didn't pay me. And they didn't have to pay the specialist because I did the work for them. Value-based care models are changing that.
You mentioned 80-hour weeks when you started, so what does a typical week look like now?
For me there is no ‘typical week’ because I'm a bit of a maverick. I'm not your usual physician—while I do clinical work, I'm also navigating the startup world, launching a new business, speaking, consulting, planning high-impact events for my clients, working as a business broker, and managing life as a mom.
My daughter is in middle school, and I think it's interesting because we have this concept that our children need us less as they get older. I think they just need us differently as they get older. So typical is always in mom mode, 25 percent clinical, and 75 percent business.
I'm a bit of a maverick. I'm not a typical physician.
If someone wanted to be a maverick like you, what would starting out on that journey look like?
So, my first thought is that medical school should include modules that educate and support physicians on business, specifically on becoming a physician entrepreneur. Right now, as medical education exists, that's not even a possibility.
During my third year of doing a MPA, I had the privilege of designing my internship. That was so valuable and the ultimate validated learning because I had never designed a curriculum. So, I shadowed hospital administrators in the educational department because at the time I wanted to go into hospital administration.
Having the opportunity to create—that's the innovation. Then, to see if I even liked it or to be allowed to fail without risks was freeing. Physicians are risk averse because we work in a high stakes field. Business is different and that experience reminded me that in business nobody dies if there is a mistake.
It would be great if physicians could do something similar, like schedule a small block of weekly time to shadow a peer from the beginning, from med school onward.
Having the opportunity to create—that's the innovation.
Quick Q&A
Summer or winter?
Give me Summer!
Morning rounds or night shift?
Bright and early
ER or Grey’s Anatomy?
Errr.. ER, obviously
Tea or coffee?
Tea
Window or aisle seat?
Seat A
Scrubs or white coat?
Scrubs. Simple
What advice would you give yourself the first handful of years out of residency?
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My advice to my younger self: Align your priorities and make decisions from there. Self. Family then medicine.
There is a huge cost to going into medicine that has nothing to do with the price tag. The relationships, friendships and memories that are sacrificed…can take a toll.
I would have added to that, “Prioritize your self, family and friends.” There's no perfect time to have a family, and make them the number one priority whenever you have it.
I would have done a lot of things differently because practicing medicine is a sacrifice that a lot of people don't talk about. The sacrifice is yourself, self-care, and relationships with your family and friends.
Right now, I have no problem saying my daughter is 100 percent of my life. But a previous version of myself would have allocated 25 percent to my family, and I would have been doing medicine 75 percent of the time - and notice there is 0% for myself. The doctor has to come first - everything falls into its proper place from there.
What problems do you see physicians run into most often with the business side of medicine?
Fear. Right now, I am coaching, consulting or working with either buyers and sellers.
The most common thing that I hear is some version of the fact that they are afraid to buy a practice.
Remember, we are trained not to fail because someone’s life is in our hands, but in business though the stakes are high, failure is feedback not fatal. I wished I would have coined Nike's slogan, "Just Do It."
What change would you love to make in the healthcare world next? What would you love to see?
Driving Change Through Physician Entrepreneurship
The real change I’d like to see in healthcare is a shift toward more entrepreneurship and ownership by physicians, driving innovation and collaboration. As a consultant focused on driving value, I’ve seen how empowering physicians to take control of their practices leads to transformative outcomes.
Physicians often aren’t aware of ways they can optimize their practices to drive revenue and improved patient care. Doctors were once highly regarded as pillars of their communities, understanding and shaping the economics and value of medicine. I want to bring that back.
I’m creating opportunities for physicians to collaborate, learn, and support each other’s entrepreneurial efforts. When physicians invest in ownership, innovation, and collaboration, we’ll not only transform their practices but also healthcare as a whole.
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