Anthony S. Bianchi, M.D. was born and raised (for the most part) near Denver, Colorado. When he was very young, his family lived in Italy for a short time where his father was stationed as a physician for the U.S. Army. As a boy, Tony Bianchi enjoyed a fun and active youth in Colorado. He was an avid youth soccer player and lettered in tennis at Cherry Creek High School. Tony attended college at the University of California in Santa Barbara and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biopsychology as a member of the Psi Chi International Honor Society. Tony was accepted to both the University of Colorado and the University of Texas Medical Schools. Upon being granted a four-year academic scholarship, he relocated and earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston and was recognized with the Best Medical Student Award. Dr. Anthony S. Bianchi chose a combined internship and surgical specialty residency program at St. Joseph’s Hospital/CTMF Breckenridge in Houston. During this time, he was awarded the Chief Resident Teaching Award, Top Resident Award by the American Association of Laparoscopists, and earned his Microsurgical Certification.
After his residency and specialty training, Dr. Bianchi created a thriving, successful private medical and surgical practice in Southern California, providing primary care as a Board-Certified surgical specialist to patients. His surgical expertise was well sought after and highly esteemed. Dr. Bianchi was recognized with numerous Patient’s Choice Awards, Compassionate Doctor Recognitions, and an On-Time Doctor Award. He was regarded as a leader within the medical community and local hospital. Dr. Bianchi simultaneously worked for the local community health clinic as a services director. He was Chairman of the Peer Review Committee, Chief of Staff for a two-year term, and an appointed member of the Board of Trustees for the local community hospital. In recognition of his years of committed service to the hospital, in 2013, Dr. Bianchi was awarded the Fallbrook Healthcare District Recognition and Appreciation Award.
Desiring a change in the intensity of his schedule and on-call requirements, Dr. Bianchi began seeking a better work-life balance. In 2014, he joined a successful occupational medicine practice in Central Valley, California as a Physician and Administrative/Clinical Director. He thoroughly enjoys his current practice of occupational medicine; including pre-employment physicals, diagnosis and treatment for work related injuries, diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid disorders, and other disease and illness. He is passionate about providing the best and most effective patient care in the occupational medicine setting. With his surgical experience, he is skilled at repairing complex lacerations, and administering virtually “pain-free” trigger-point injections. Dr. Bianchi is skilled at P&S reporting and is certified by the NRCME to perform DOT exams. His professional interests include comprehensive wellness, occupational medicine, men’s health, and the emerging science of genomics related to precision medical diagnostics and treatment. His healthcare philosophy is that everyone has value and should be offered the best care with compassionate dignity and kindness.
Dr. Bianchi is fluent in Spanish and has enjoyed a number of service oriented activities over the years including coaching his children’s soccer teams, going on mission trips, volunteering with Riverside Recovery Resources, and serving as a voluntary recovery coach and mentor for individuals and executives. Dr. Bianchi is married and has two adult children. He and his wife sponsor three children from various countries and are actively involved in serving within their local church. They enjoy traveling, soccer, hiking, mountain biking, and reading. Dr. Bianchi loves music and enjoys playing the guitar and piano.
When did you start your practice?
Dr. Bianchi started his first medical practice July 1999 in Southern California. He became known as the premier physician and surgical specialist in the Fallbrook and Temecula area. His busy practice grew, eventually including three additional providers and two office locations. After more than thirteen years of successful practice and some changes in lifestyle, he began to place a higher value on a more balanced quality of life and less call. He sold his practice and began exploring other specialties.
During this transition, Dr. Bianchi initially volunteered and was then offered a medical directorship position at Riverside Recovery Resources, a long-term residential (LTR) men’s recovery facility.
In 2014, Dr. Bianchi was hired by a leading independent Occupational and Industrial Medicine practice in Frenso, California. It was an excellent fit which provided him with additional specialty training related to men’s health issues in a high-volume setting. The practice has built an excellent provider team, offering exceptional medical services, care, and treatment for the entire central valley.
What does your typical day look like?
Most mornings Dr. Bianchi wakes up, enjoys a cup of coffee (with little bit of whipped cream) along with his wife and he typically does two to three devotionals at breakfast. He then heads off to his office, which he has intentionally made sure is close-by to minimize his commute. He usually arrives early to get a head-start on paperwork and put out any fires from the preceding day. By mid-day Dr. Bianchi has seen twelve to eighteen patients with a variety of ailments and injuries stemming from work accidents. He also performs employment and pre-employment physical evaluations for the more than five-thousand companies, which the practice contracts with. He will have typically sown up a laceration or two, read a few x-rays on perhaps some broken bones, and have helped navigate patients through the sometimes-rough waters of a workers’ compensation claim. Nearly every day he enjoys lunch with his wife at their nearby home, and then he is back to seeing patients within the hour. His afternoon is spent much the same, while also assisting and guiding colleagues and other providers before he heads home after a full day. His evenings are spent serving in his local church, reading, or watching an episode of Longmire on television with his wife. On most days, he also makes the time to reach out to, and receive calls from, his family and friends.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
An exciting trend within the field of medicine is a renewed emphasis and now acceptance of looking at the patients, not just as a physical, physiologic machine, but really as a whole-being needing bio, psycho, social, and spiritual wellness.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive?
With Dr. Bianchi’s many years of surgical experience, the critical skill of dictation and the ability to quickly navigate electronic medical records has proven to be a tremendous advantage for documenting patient care, charting, and various report requirements. This allows Dr. Bianchi to efficiently and productively navigate the challenges of a busy patient schedule.
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
Dr. Bianchi says that the worst job he ever had, was in many ways, the best job he ever had. He worked as a maid for a large hotel chain in Denver, Colorado, late in his teenage years. It was the worst job he ever had because he had to wake up so early (long before his friends were awake and working) in order to complete his daily job requirements of thoroughly cleaning sometimes filthy hotel rooms. He says it was also an amazing blessing, because in addition to learning the value of hard work, he also learned from his co-workers the value of having a joy-filled spirit in the midst of an unpleasant and demanding job. He looked at the fact that his co-workers’ lives would be very much the same in the coming years and yet they were able to experience great joy and satisfaction in the work that they were doing. This made him very grateful to be able to move forward with his education and look forward to, quite frankly, an “easier life”. In retrospect, he began to realize that “easy” does not mean satisfying or even good, and therefore he continued to work hard to learn, grow, change, and care for others.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
If Dr. Bianchi were to start again he would hold onto the strong mentors that he was fortunate to have in his life. He would also choose to leave sooner, those relationships and situations, which were hurtful or unproductive.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your practice? Please explain how.
One strategy that has always helped Dr. Bianchi grow in any practice that he has been a part of, is to show up 10 minutes early (as opposed to 5 minutes late). He also says it has been extremely important to look at every day as an opportunity to care and serve others, treat colleagues and patients with honesty and integrity, and always do his best. Dr. Bianchi says that “Always do your best” is one of The Four Agreements (by Miguel Ruiz) which he has posted in his office. These agreements serve as important daily reminders for him.
What is one failure you had as a business owner, and how did you overcome it?
Dr. Bianchi says that as a business owner, he failed to adequately oversee (at times) the unrealistic expectations of co-administrators and failed to keep those unrealistic expectations in check. While he admits to having goals that were too lofty at times, he still strongly relies on a foundation of common sense, hard work, research and development, and always utilizing wise and discerning counsel in making impactful decisions.
Dr. Bianchi goes on to say that having the wrong people in positions of power in your business, can have catastrophic consequences. He has learned that whether the people are well-intentioned or ill-intentioned, the power to make decisions for which another person will ultimately be responsible can be very dangerous and damaging. These are some important failures that he has learned well from, and doesn’t plan on repeating.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Dr. Bianchi has always wanted to utilize his compassion, caring, experience, strength, and hope to assist individuals who are struggling to not only overcome health problems or reach fitness goals, but also who desire to achieve financial, spiritual, and other wellness goals. In other words, he would really enjoy developing a professional mentoring team or organization.
Tell us something about you that very few people know?
When Dr. Bianchi was 17-years-old, he sang at the Sidney Oprah House in Australia with his high school choir. His trip included touring New Zealand as well, where he stayed at a local farmer’s home. He had the opportunity to watch him milk cows and herd sheep. He says that he will never forget the massive size and strength of his hands, which were matched only by the size and strength of his heart, spirit and kindness.
Another humorous tidbit that few people know about Dr. Bianchi is that later that same year, he was almost lured away from pursuing a career in medicine by the riches and fame of big business. A new company called Video Café had developed a business which combined the home delivery of both pizza and VHS movies. Anthony (Tony) Bianchi was hired by Video Café as a pizza maker. Shortly after, the manager of the food side of the store was fired and Tony was quickly promoted. Within 60 days they had offered him a full-time managerial spot and were wanting to fly him out of state to their corporate offices for training and a five-figure salary of $28k per year. As an 18-year-old, this was incredibly appealing to him. Needless to say, the conversation he had with his parents regarding this decision and his long-term future, was very interesting.
Many people may not realize the well-rounded interests and skills of Dr. Bianchi. He is an avid snow skier, has a life-long passion for soccer, and loves to play guitar and piano.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Dr. Bianchi says that The Four Agreements, by Miguel Ruiz is very powerful in terms of four succinct and vital principles to remember as a person engages in daily life and interacts within business and personal settings and relationships.
What people have influenced your thinking and might be of interest to others?
Dr. Bianchi says that authors Andy Andrews and Jon Gordon have greatly influenced his thinking and perspectives in many aspects of life, including the areas of business and personal growth.
He praises Andy Andrews as a phenomenal story-teller who uses history, historic figures, and amazing characters to teach a person and offer them new awareness about themselves, dynamic perspectives, and possibilities for the future they would like to create. Dr. Bianchi goes on to say that Andy Andrews has an amazing personal story as well. Some of Andy Andrews famous titles include The Noticer, The Heart Mender, and The Little Things.
He says Jon Gordon also offers incredible advice for life, work, and business in the form of impactful story vignettes as the author invites readers to view everything from a perspective of purpose, hope, and opportunity. Some titles include The No Complaining Rule, Training Camp, The Carpenter, The Positive Dog, The Seed, The Shark and the Goldfish, and The Power of Positive Leadership.
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.