Archive for May, 2010

Recoup the Drugstore Dollars

May 27

Posted by Carri Kaufman in Practice Management | No Comments

The last few years have seen a rise in office co-pays, with some going as high as $40. Patients silently express their frustration with this by bucking the system and self-diagnosing their illnesses. They take the $40 in healthcare dollars that they would have spent at a physician’s office and hand it over to Walgreen’s and other drugstores with the hopes that the over-the-counter “weekly special” will cure them.

How can you get your patients to transfer those dollars back to you? Read the rest of this entry »

How the Healthcare Reform Bill May Affect Doctors in the Future

May 25

Posted by Bonnie Sears in Business Trends | 9 Comments

The healthcare reform bill that was recently passed by congress will have wide spread implications throughout the medical community. While the premise of the bill is admirable: to provide affordable healthcare for as many people as possible, the outcome may not match the intention. Read the rest of this entry »

Cash Medicine: Getting Your Piece of the Pie

May 20

Posted by Sherry Krueger in Cash Medicine | 5 Comments

Too many doctors’ practices operate in the red, at least according to the Medical Group Management Association. Why? Because insurance companies pay doctors unfairly low rates while also reducing service coverage and boosting patient premiums.

Throughout the 21^st century, Americans have spent at least $1.5 trillion a year on healthcare. Yet, insurance companies often base the rates they pay doctors on scales from the 1990s.

Read the rest of this entry »

Genre of Patients

May 18

Posted by Carri Kaufman in Cash Medicine | 2 Comments

It’s easy to feel like you’re a pawn in the insurance game of reimbursement and seemingly ever changing policies. It’s becoming increasingly less feasible to sustain a practice built on insurance reimbursement alone. Short of switching to an all cash practice, there are things you can do to increase your cash flow. Read the rest of this entry »

Giving Patients a Choice: Insurance or No Insurance?

May 11

Posted by Sherry Krueger in Business Trends | 2 Comments

The selective use of insurance could greatly benefit you and your patients. It’s not just doctors and uninsured patients who are tired of the insurance-driven medical profession; insured patients paying big bucks each month for all-but-useless insurance plans are also exhausted from dealing with increasingly unreasonable insurance companies. Read the rest of this entry »

Is the “Medical Model” Dying?

May 4

Posted by Bonnie Sears in Trends | 7 Comments

A major shift is occurring in the behavior and attitudes of patients and consumers of healthcare in America. The belief in the medical model of healthcare is diminishing. What evidence is there for this? A couple of trends are emerging.

First, in the last five years, there have been more visits by patients to alternative practitioners than to traditional physicians. Secondly, the shift away from pharmaceuticals and toward natural supplements is gaining momentum. Even 65% of physicians take natural supplements.

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to our PhysicianTrends Blog. We're here to talk about physicians and how they are changing in the midst of the most massive transformation in our healthcare system since Medicare.