Dr Maria Boulton is a GP, business owner, author, public speaker and regular guest on ABC Radio Brisbane. Her business Family Doctors Plus won the 2017 Telstra QLD Business of the Year Award as well as New Business of the Year Award. The state win was superb considering very few new businesses normally win that category. Dr Maria Boulton was born in Central America and arrived in Brisbane when she was 13 years of age. The power of education, a belief that women can do anything and a great support network have allowed her to achieve all of her goals and more. With the Telstra win under her belt, Mr Maria Boulton’s business partner Dr Fiona Raciti and herself are now looking to change the way in which healthcare is delivered.

Family Doctors Plus is innovating and utilizes new technology to make healthcare more available, improve the customer experience and improve the health and wellbeing of the community. Moreover, they are the one of the few medical clinics that provide education to the community as well as holding regular fundraisers to support cancer, women’s health and children’s palliative care services. Dr Maria Boulton’s style of leadership is inspirational, and she encourages her team to continue their self development journey. So much so that their marketing consultant was inspired to start her own very successful business.

We caught up with Dr Maria to chat about her Family Doctor’s Plus and her passion for people, charity and family:

Tell us about your involvement with charity initiatives:

I was born in El Salvador, Central America and moved to Brisbane with my family at the age of 13. El Salvador is a beautiful country, with superb beaches and delicious food, but sadly it has been devastated by war, poverty and natural disasters. Luckily my family was in the position that they could help others and has always been involved in charitable work. From collecting and delivering food and water to victims of earthquakes in El Salvador to helping out at an orphanage.

My clinic Family Doctors Plus has been welcomed so warmly by our local community that my business partner Dr Fiona Raciti and I decided very early on in the life of our new business to give back. As a new business (founded in March 2016) we had little spare cash but made up for it with lots of energy and passion. We began holding fundraisers in 2016 and have not looked back. We have fundraised for the QLD Cancer Council, Red Kite, Ascot Neighbourhood day, as well as collecting toys for Hummingbird House and various child care centres. Our in-house fundraisers take the shape of education sessions on topics from mindfulness, to cancer screening to reducing the risk of heart disease. Local businesses kindly donate raffle and lucky door prizes.  We also attend local schools and daycares to deliver health education for free. We love helping our community to live as healthy and happy as possible through education. I am also a regular guest on ABC Brisbane Radio on “Afternoons with Kat Feeney” where we discuss the latest health news affecting the local community.

How did winning the Telstra QLD Business of the Year Award in 2017 boost your business and personal profile?

As an independently owned clinic, winning the Telstra QLD Business of the Year Award and New Business Awards in 2017 has opened many doors for us. It has raised our profile so that our voices can be heard as loudly as those of larger corporate clinics. This is especially important for us as we are trying to improve health care, in particular Aged Care. We have had meetings with State and Federal Ministers and key stakeholders and presented them with our improved model of Aged Care.

Telstra are passionate about technology. They have become valuable partners as we try to improve access to GP services, improve our business processes and our patients’ experience when they come to our clinic. The Awards journey helped us learn a lot about our business, what we do well and the areas where we can improve. Most importantly we have met truly inspiring business people from all fields –fashion, food, agriculture, charity, and more-connections that we treasure.

What personal achievement are you most proud of?

Personally as a mother I am most proud of my family. I am proud that my children are kind and that they love reading and learning. I am a big fan of education and hope that one day it is universally available.

Professionally I couldn’t be prouder of my business-Family Doctors Plus, and how it has grown in just 2 years. I am lucky to have an intelligent and passionate business partner in Dr Fiona Raciti, as well as a great team of passionate health and administration professionals that love what they do-helping people.

What is your key to excellent customer experience?

In the health field it is compassion. You see people at their most vulnerable. This translates from our administration staff who work at fitting in sick people to our nurses who treat everyone with kindness to our doctors who not only treat illness but offer a listening ear when needed.

How do you plan to change the way that healthcare is delivered?

We are planning on using technology to improve all our processes. The health industry is still old fashioned when it comes to technology, some hospitals still use fax. We are currently ironing out some last minute details on new software that we will use at Family Doctors Plus to help us improve the patient journey and our business processes.

We have also been working at changing the way in which aged care is delivered to residents of residential aged care facilities. We have a great model that we would like to see implemented at a larger scale.

Tell us about your biggest learning curve?

As a doctor my biggest learning curve has been the business side of running a medical clinic. The best advice I can give is to surround yourself with a great team and have a very detailed business plan.

What keeps you motivated?

I have always been highly motivated to achieve my goals (no matter how crazy they may seem)-so perhaps it is genetic? My sister, parents and grandmother are the same.

What’s one thing you do every day for yourself?

I have always been a keen reader, and I look forward to my monthly bookclub get together with my fantastic friends.

Let us in on your top tip to success?

Energy. Success is only possible by spending a lot of energy in making your dreams a reality.

What’s on your bucket list/next goal?

Looking back at my career I am so thankful for the great education I received-from All Hallows’ School in Brisbane to The University of Queensland. I am keen to focus some of my energy to raise some money for the Malala Found.

Favourite book?
Too many to choose from but “Anne of Green Gables”, “Gone with the Wind” and ‘’The Passage” are definitely on my top 5.