Urine, Fit him in, a Baby Shower and T-cubed

Wed March 18th, 2009

My day off.

What did I do today?

Worked out in the am. Had some "me" time.

Then I went to the office to see 2 patients.

The first was a new 8 year-old girl with the flu. Her parents and 2 grandparents are already in my practice, as selfpay patients. Very nice people and very understanding. Why do I say that?

Well.......

URINE:

My wife and I bring my dog to work with us. A cute 20lb poodle named Ellie. Ellie usually stays with my wife or with my medical assistant, usually hoping to get fed. But my wife was shopping at Target, so Ellie just roamed around the office greeting everyone. Well as I was almost finished with the 8 year old, Ellie comes into the room to say hello. Ellie acted like she wanted to get closer to the patient so I allowed her to get up on the exam table. Ellie then proceeded to squat and urinate on the exam table, inches away from the 8 year old. Thank goodness for table paper!! As I saw the squatting, I grabbed Ellie and put her on the floor and had my medical assisstant take her for a quick walk outside. The 8 year old and her mother, instead of being horrified, were laughing it up. It is nice to have patient's who are real people!!

FIT HIM IN:

The other patient is an owner of a small business that is downsizing. He has an HMO insurance via his wife's employer. He called his "primary", but they could not see him until next week. He did not want to wait, so we "fit him in". He had an abcess and early cellulitis on his right thigh. I called a surgeon I have referred to for years and they "fit him in" 2 hours later. I charged him only for a minimal visit, 99212 for those who still code, as I did an evaluation, but no real treatment. I also gave him a break as I treat his wife and mother-in-law.

A BABY SHOWER:

Some nice happenings today. A surprise baby shower for one of my medical assistants. My new part-time medical assistant took charge and planned the surprise shower which we had at the office at lunchtime. today. My other part-timer was there along with a former employee, my wife, and in-laws. One nice thing about a small office is we can do little things like this. It keeps the office happy and running smoothly.

T-CUBED:

After work today, while driving with my wife to go food shopping, I received a call from one of my wellness patients. She was sick for a day, but felt this was not her normal sickness. I was able to get info on the phone to help her, and asked that she text me her pharmacy phone number. I use a treo cellphone that enables me to make calls by tapping the phone number contained in the text message. After calling in an RX to the pharmacy, I replied to her text that the rx was called in and that she should schedule an appointment in 2 days if she is not getting better.

As part of my wellness plan, she has no copay. I would not receive any revenues by seeing her in the office. She also lives about 1 hour away. In the olden days, I would have requested she come into the office right away for evaluation. So it would have cost her 2 hours of drivetime on the NJ turnpike, while feeling really ill. Not a pleasant thought! The wellness plan allowed me not to worry about getting paid, but instead to focus on my patient's health.

So what does T-cubed stand for:

T-cubed = Telephone + Treatment + Texting

T-cubed allowed me to treat a patient efficiently and quickly, and we were both happy with the process. No insurance or government regulation to get in the way!!

DoctorSH