OBama's Healthcare Summitt

I worked today in my private office. I receive no outside funding. I work for myself and my patient's. I do not ask for any handouts or any special political favors.

Today was President OBama's healthcare summit.

My main question: How many physicians who own and operate their own private practice were included in the "summit" ?

Here I am trying to do what is right for the healthcare needs of my patient's. My practice is set up to be accessible and affordable. I keep overhead low and time with patient's high. I do this by avoiding any third party intrusion into the exam room. My fear is that Mr. OBama will try to jam down more third party intruders into the exam room, and as a result will dismantle the doctor-patient relationship even further. This will not be good for our country. My goal is to be able to provide family healthcare needs to any who want it at an affordable price. This may get difficult if the bureaucrats take over.

Todays stats:

15 patients- 12 in the am shift, 3 in the afternoon.

1 new patient who joined my wellness plan. this is the daughter of a current wellness patient, who is presently uninsured. She has medical issues she wants to address, some of which may be hereditary. As I treat her parents, and have an affordable monthly payment option, she had no hesitation in joining my office.

There is value in trust. More docs need to remember this!!

1 wellness patient renewed for the year.
Only 1 medicare patient today, and 7 selfpay.
If my 4 workdays were all like this, my revenues would be higher than when I participated with insurers.

My ad campaign starts next week. I will be running 4 consecutive ads, costing under $70 each, with bullet points that share my views on healthcare and how my practice differs from others.
I'll comment later in my return on investment (roi).

DoctorSH

The Day After The Snow

It is the day after a missed day at work due to snow.

The usual happened. 2 no shows in the morning. And then it hits. The phone starts ringing and we start filling up. All the afternoon slots were filled by lunchtime. Still could be no shows, but I can't worry about that.

Ended up with 13 patients today. 3 wellness renewals including the two I will mention soon. 1 patient returned after 2 years away, and when he found out I did not participate with his insurance, he didn't mind, he said it was worht it as I took almost 45 minutes with him for a short physical and talk session. I could not have done that 2 years ago. I would not have had the time.

A good feeling this morning. An 82 yo man, a patient in my practice for many years, renewed his and his wifes wellness plan for the year. They have a Medicare-HMO plan that would enable them to recieve care elsewhere, and at a much reduced cost. Instead , he paid today in full for the wellness plan on his credit card. His wife was only in my office twice last year, but he still wanted her on the plan, primarily to fix the costs for the year. This couple does not have a lotof money, and lives off of a fixed income. But they obviously value my services. They have trust that I am working solely for them.

On another note, I am looking to further the wellness part of the practice. I am in the process of hiring a massage therapist. I think this will add to the value that patient's receive from my office. The fee schedule has not been cemented yet, but patient's in my wellness plans will get a discount.

The goal of my practice is to be as third party free as possible, and be able to give truly valuable services to those who come to my office for care. The key to keeping patient's in this system is one word, trust!

DoctorSH