Interesting question from Medicare patient

In my practice I accept no insurance other than Medicare. Today I had a Medicare patient whose family left my practice due to insurance issues. This patient, I shall call Rose, was very happy that I was not only able to give her a same day appointment, but also her boyfriend. She thought the new practice model was wonderful and that she hoped I would start to see a large number of seniors on Medicare.

It struck me that my message of participating with no insurers other than Medicare may not have been fully explained nor comprehended by my patients. Some patients may have left my practice thinking I was only treating Medicare patients. In fact Rose wanted to know whether her family could return to my practice. I needed to have a 5 minute fce to face discussion with Rose and explain my practice was open to patients ages 6 and above. The only caveat being I will bill Medicare but no other insurance for payment. A light then went off in Rose's head and she said she would talk to her family.

I also explained to Rose that I was not hoping for a large Medicare practice, but was very happy with the percentage of Medicare patients that I have. I did not want to be beholden to any insurer, whether government or private. Rose also informed me that her family went to another doctors office and was not happy. This is not good for the other doctor or Rose's family, but it follows my logic of treating patients and not their insurance, of taking the necessary time with each patient, and of not running your office like a cattle mill where the best doctor is the one who sees the most patients for the day. A doctor can see less patients and still earn a good living. I am on pace to see 250 patients this month, which is about 20% off of my amount seen in February 2007. But my revenues so far for the month are 33% higher than in the similar period of 2007.

I gave up capitation checks for Wellness patients. So far the Wellness patients brought in much more revenue than capitation ever did. However I do not know if this will continue throughout the year as my established patients come through the new practice style. I believe I will eventually need to bring in new Wellness patients to the practice to continue the increased revenue. I am preparing a marketing strategy for just that. If anyone reading this blog has any helpful tips for marketing, please speak up.

Steven Horvitz, D.O.