“I feel so bad for my doctor. He’s in his sixties and after a full day, he has to go home and spend another three hours on the computer. It’s not right.” In a seeming blink of an eye, medicine has gone from an art to a trade. Much of it is now data entry and fast turnarounds. If you’ve needed healthcare recently, you know what I’m talking about....
Read MoreIn our previous discussions about clinicians pleasing supervisors and rewarding constituents you probably noticed there was one group conspicuously missing. Patients. That’s because patients don’t have a place in the organizational hierarchy of a healthcare delivery organization. They’re your work product. They’re a tool. A tool through which you’ll generate value. Some value you’ll send up to your boss. Some you’ll pass...
Read MoreTime for another edition of my wildly popular “Success Codes” series. If you haven’t already, you may want to review my world-class, yet humbly simple (yes, really) explanation of RAF scoring—it’ll help you understand some of the shorthand terminologies below. It’s the only one on the web written by a PCP who’s been in the trenches blocking and tackling since Medicare Advantage first arrived on the scene 20+ years ago—and done so with incredible results. ...
Read MoreEver been to the mouth of the Colorado River? I last visited 30 years ago during a particularly memorable summer trip to the little town of Topolobampo on the Gulf of California—a story which pre-dates Mrs. Dr. Tom and is best left for another day. There’s an overlook where you can park and watch the majestic Colorado flow into the sea. It was quite a life...
Read MoreThe government cannot honor its Medicare commitments—certainly not as the program is currently structured. We all know this to be true. CMS knows it too. CPC+ is another in a long line of alternative payment models set forth by CMS as it attempts to nurture and grow the robust primary care workforce needed to cost-effectively administer Medicare healthcare delivery. Phase one began in January 2017. The details...
Read MoreMACRA will change everything about how you receive health care. And your primary strategy to by-pass those changes is to pay cash for your care. But how can you afford it? Well, the recently passed tax law gives you more resources to try a popular option. The tax law eliminated the penalty for not buying insurance. As a result, many folks who are going without insurance are...
Read MoreCoach Stu worked with the defensive line on my son’s football team. His words of wisdom will echo through the ages. “That’s not blocking, that’s two the sound of two butterflies having sex.” “Are you tired? Well, there’s a sport for people who get tired—It’s called baseball.” My favorite: “After the snap, if you rush right into the backfield like you’re an “All...
Read MoreTime for another edition of my wildly popular “Success Codes” series. If you haven’t already, you may want to review my world-class, yet humbly simple (yes, really) explanation of RAF scoring—it’ll help you understand some of the shorthand terminologies below. It’s the only one on the web written by a PCP who’s been in the trenches blocking and tackling since Medicare Advantage first arrived on the scene 20+ years ago—and done so with incredible results. ...
Read MoreEvery few months I like to re-post my first blog entry and remind myself why we’re doing what we do. Mr. Biondo is a real person and a good man. He gave me permission to tell his story if I thought it might help someone. When I first met Mr. Biondo he was not at all well. He had lost a leg through misfortune. The bed sores...
Read MoreIatrogenic (literally “physician caused”) complications represent the single greatest health risk to your older patients. In short, the more you do, the worse they become. Don’t believe me? Just look at their med lists. Whenever I step onto a nursing home ward, It helps to imagine myself as Godzilla….and my patients as thousands of fleeing Japanese. With every click at the keyboard, I spread mayhem, suffering, and death. My iPad...
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