February 16, 2009

2-16-09

Monday, the dreaded first day of the week. It starts at 9am and ends around 8PM. But today, the schedule was front loaded, with most patient's seen in the am. I actually ended seeing patient's at 6:30PM, giving me enough time to make call backs, recheck some documentation, and actually sit for 10 minutes and eat dinner. A nice change from a few years ago.

I saw 22 patients today. A busy day for now, but will probably be the average in a few years. But without the hassle of billing insurance, it was a pleasure. Two patients renewed their wellness plan agreement today without even being seen. I find that it is the trust between myself and my patient's that makes the system work. As long as I keep the patient-centered approach, without the bullsh.t, the practice should continue to grow.

While 22 patient's were seen today, tomorrows schedule has 6 so far. It will end up double that, but I still need to grow the practice with new patient's, especially in the zero copay wellness plans. I am working on an advertising plan, and hoping for more word-of-mouth and referrals from within.

While I do not participate with third parties, most of my patients still rely on these insurers for payment of testing. Today a patient with thyroiditis by laboratory studies was denied precertification for a thyroid scan. The patient has been hospitalized twice so far, once with new onset atrial fibrillation. It truly makes sense that some insurance wonk can make a decision on the worthwhileness of a test when they have never seen, spoken to, nor examined the patient. These third parties are the downfall of the medical system. They really need to be removed!!

DoctorSH