February 15th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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It’s an age-old problem, made more complicated by our new era of electronic medical records: optimizing collections in a time of unprecedented price pressures on our health care complex. With the economic downturn and declining government payments for services, everyone in health care is feeling the pinch.
It is no secret that work not billed will ultimately be work not paid. Hospitals and practice managers, adept at business principles, know this. Deep down inside, doctors know this, too. Historically, doctors dictated when they billed their patients, even if it meant waiting over a week to do so. If a doctor was to take a vacation, some of those billings could wait until his return.
Not so any longer. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
February 3rd, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
3 Comments »
I was talking to a fellow physician about a mutual patient. I had information that would help him in their care and he was taking the unusual step of asking me for my information. I was impressed.
“Could you fax me those documents?” he asked. ”Here’s my fax number.”
I scrambled to get a pen to write down his number. Then I had a thought: “I could email you those documents much easier. Do you have an email address?”
Silence.
After a long pause, he hesitantly responded, “I would rather you just fax it.” He said no more. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
February 1st, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Opinion
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A recent study suggests that doctors may put off holding end of life care discussions that involve subjects like advance directives, hospice or site of death.
Recommendations suggest that physicians hold these conversations when patients have about a year to live, but the data show those guidelines aren’t being followed.
Why? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
January 27th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
1 Comment »
Have you ever stopped bothering to care about a patient? A doctor sent me his own personal account of the smoking Mr Jones:
Dear Happy. I read your article on bounce backs with great interest, and was astonished by some of the vitriol it elicited. I remember having one COPDer bounce back to me three times within a month at the VA when I was a medicine resident. He would leave, smoke and drink, and then come back and be readmitted to my service with exactly the same course each time. It was like Groundhog Day.
Finally I had a little talk with him and said: “Mr. Jones, each time you come in, you’re on death’s door. So I come down to the ER, stay up with you all night and save your life. But you know, I’m really getting tired of having you come in after drinking and smoking and then working like a dog to save your life. So let me tell you, if you don’t quit smoking, the next time you do this there’s a good chance that I’m not going to bother. Why should I? It doesn’t seem to be doing either of us any good.”
To my complete astonishment, he actually quit smoking and stayed quit for about a year. Then he fell off the wagon, deteriorated too far before getting to the hospital and died. I was frankly proud of him for the effort, but somehow suspect that I’d be shot in a drive-by if I ever told that story in public. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist Blog*
January 26th, 2010 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
3 Comments »
President Obama’s Healthcare Reform Bill will not work. It is based on decreases in physician reimbursement while forcing physicians to increase overhead with unaffordable electronic medical records. More and more physician groups and practices are starting to realize that they cannot make a living from the reimbursement from Medicare. They are quitting taking new Medicare patients and trying to get rid of the old ones by not taking assignment.
President Obama’s idea is to force physicians to be more efficient producers. It is very difficult to force anyone to do anything they cannot afford. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
It’s an age-old problem, made more complicated by our new era of electronic medical records: optimizing collections in a time of unprecedented price pressures on our health care complex. With the economic downturn and declining government payments for services, everyone in health care is feeling the pinch.
