After undermining your authority to the patient (see part 1) the drug companies turn their powers of persuasion on your staff, covertly sneaking into your offices, bribing your staff with lunches and goodies. Based solely on personality your staff is swayed by the drug reps.

They determine who is allowed in, who can talk to you, what drugs samples are kept? All predetermined by who is the most attentive to your staff. So now, at a time when your expertise is being challenged by your patients, your staff has an agenda of its own and you have lost control of your drug cabinet. Where does it end?

Everyone has seen numerous drug companies advertising their medications on T.V. with the list of side effects that sound far worse than any ailment they might treat.Have you ever considered what this means to the doctor? Doctors are now finding that drug company ads are leading patients to question treatment plans or diagnoses determined by the doctor because they don’t jive with the TV commercial. In an age when patients have access to more health information than they can handle, drug commercials are just adding to the problem of doctors getting increasingly challenged by their patients. Get ready….its just gonna get worse.

I am baffled at the outrage the physician community is displaying. The number one complaint: The government in the exam room. What happened to the doctor / patient relationship? How can doctors provide effective treatment with limits? My question: Why are you concerned now?

A quick update on the type of things that the OIG is going after that are very easy for your office fall victim to. Do not let these violations happen to you!

Everyone’s looking for someone to blame for the ills of our healthcare problems. Is it the insurance companies who pay their executives too much, or the patients who overuse the system, or is it the doctors’ themselves? Regardless of who is to blame, it is a certainty that doctors can play a major role in bringing positive changes to the problem. However, it can’t be business as usual. Doctors need to challenge some of their most fundamental beliefs and ways of doing business. Here are some questions to ask:

Do I have a sour outlook about the future of healthcare or do I believe there is a way to make my practice more satisfying than ever?

 

Everyone’s looking for someone to blame for the ills of our healthcare problems. Is it the insurance companies who pay their executives too much, or the patients who overuse the system, or is it the doctors’ themselves? Regardless of who is to blame, it is a certainty that doctors can play a major role in bringing positive changes to the problem. However, it can’t be business as usual. Doctors need to challenge some of their most fundamental beliefs and ways of doing business. Here are some questions to ask: 

1. Do I have a sour outlook about the future of healthcare or do I believe there is a way to make my practice more satisfying than ever?
2. Am I thinking out-of-the-box or am I locked into the old, outdated healthcare system?
3. Am I looking for ways that I, as provider, can save healthcare costs or do I spend my day resenting/fighting the insurance companies?
4. Have I looked at how I might be able to help my patients PREVENT their health problems or do I just fix/manage problems?
5. Am I looking at how I can work in conjunction with alternative modalities that most of my patients are using?

Doctors will soon be presented with two choices; either be absorbed by the system (that healthcare reform will create) or proactively reconsider and reshape how you practice.

 

1 Comment

• #1 by Kandice on January 5th, 2010

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  So true. Doctors truly only have those two options. I mean, they either stick it out and continue to watch their practices slide down the tubes, or they make the necessary changes to stay alive and keep their patients healthy. Check out http://www.SignatureMD.com for more information on this topic.

Everyone’s looking for someone to blame for the ills of our healthcare problems. Is it the insurance companies who pay their executives too much, or the patients who overuse the system, or is it the doctors’ themselves? Regardless of who is to blame, it is a certainty that doctors can play a major role in bringing positive changes to the problem. However, it can’t be business as usual. Doctors need to challenge some of their most fundamental beliefs and ways of doing business. Here are some questions to ask:

Do I have a sour outlook about the future of healthcare or do I believe there is a way to make my practice more satisfying than ever?

1. Am I thinking out-of-the-box or am I locked into the old, outdated healthcare system?
2. Am I looking for ways that I, as provider, can save healthcare costs or do I spend my day resenting/fighting the insurance companies?
3. Have I looked at how I might be able to help my patients PREVENT their health problems or do I just fix/manage problems?
4. Am I looking at how I can work in conjunction with alternative modalities that most of my patients are using?

Doctors will soon be presented with two choices; either be absorbed by the system (that healthcare reform will create) or proactively reconsider and reshape how you practice.