Dear Lactnetters:

I've been lurking for quite some time so I'll introduce myself a little before my question:

NICU RN for many years, now a Childbirth Educator and hospital-based IBCLC for hospital with over 4000 births/year.  We have 6 IBCLC's but we all work part-time or per diem, so our hours only add up to 1.4 FTE's! (Full-time equivalents). Needless to say, we're very busy.  
My husband and I have 3 children--all breastfed, of course!

Anyway, here is my question:  I know there have been discussions on Lactnet about setting up businesses and being self-employed as an IBCLC and I plan to check the archives.  Specifically, though, I would like to know if there is anyone out there who contracts with a hospital to provide lactation services as an independent agency or company.  We would probably be contracting only for the outpatient office visits, with inpatient lactation services still being provided by hospital-based IBCLC's. What did it take to set it up? (The hospital brought up the idea--- so convincing them to do it is not a problem.) How does it work?  How do you bill? (Right now we can bill insurance companies directly because we're hospital-based, but of course that would change.)  Any ideas about the contract with the hospital?  We would have office space available to us at the hospital but as a separate entity we would need our own liability insurance, etc I'm sure.  This is going to be a major undertaking, I think.

Thanks in advance---I would appreciate private e-mails as well as to the list from anyone with information since I am Nomail on and off.  And I hope this works--it's the first time I've posted anything! 

Melinda Lueck, RNC, BSN, IBCLC,LCCE
Perrysburg, Ohio, USA
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