Escape From McMedicine
Six years ago I left my job and invited my community to design an ideal medical clinic. I’m not alone. Thousands of physicians across America have opened more ideal, patient-centered practices.
Six years ago I left my job and invited my community to design an ideal medical clinic. I’m not alone. Thousands of physicians across America have opened more ideal, patient-centered practices.
Garrison Bliss is as interesting as his name. The Seattle internist has been at the forefront of the direct-pay health care movement. As Medical Director of Qliance, an outcomes-driven model of direct-pay primary care, he is out to prove that medicine is more effective and cheaper when doctors are directly accountable to patients without third party interference. In this exclusive interview, Dr. Bliss lays out the realities of direct pay practice, his prediction about how the tables are turning on insurers, and why primary care will undergo a rebirth once the current health care bubble bursts….and it will!
Dissatisfied with assembly-line medicine? Dreaming of life off the hamster wheel? Don’t wait for politician-saviors. Convene with your neighbors.
Physicians nationwide are taking a novel approach to healthcare reform: They’re listening to citizens. All across America doctors and patients are joining together to create ideal clinics, hospitals, and regional healthcare systems based on the real needs and wishes of the communities they serve. Could the future of American health care begin in your own backyard?
Physician Consulting Inc, a Colorado-based consulting company, is helping primary care physicians across the country develop thriving prevention-focused practices through incorporation of safe, effective, and scientifically-sound non-pharmaceutical therapies.
Data from Holistic Primary Care’s first annual survey of primary care physicians reveal that some very positive changes are going on in the trenches of clinical practice these days. A lot more physicians are turning toward holistic approaches, with nutrition taking a much more prominent place in day-to-day practice. It seems that the “integration” we’ve been hearing so much about is really happening!
Two years ago, Dr. William Lee was like many family physicians, stuck in a treadmill of a group practice that forced him to see 20-30 patients per day just to keep from going under. Then he discovered concierge-based practice. Dr. Lee describes his transition to a model that enabled him to fall in love with medicine again.
The “concierge” or membership approach to primary care is growing at a brisk pace, and appears to be fairly recession-proof. Moreover, it can significantly improve clinical outcomes for patients, even those of fairly modest means.
Primary care reimbursement is not likely to rise any time soon. If anything, doctors will continue to face downward economic pressure. If you want to survive, you need to learn how to cut practice overhead without compromising patient care. Dr. Brian Forrest, a major advocate for low-overhead practice, offers tips for cutting practice costs, saving money & improving your bottom line.
Mr. Gerry Sikorski and his team of 85 health care attorneys at Holland & Knight, a DC-based law firm, have plumbed the depths of the new health care reform bill. They’re uniquely qualified to advise doctors on what to expect. Their bottom line? While the reform plan considers primary care and preventive medicine as essential, it isn’t putting much money on the table for primary care doctors, and it isn’t going to make it any easier for solo & small group practices to survive.
Practice models in which patients pay directly for physician services without insurance company involvement offer financial advantages to physicians. But do they foster better health care? Yes, says Dr. Brian Forrest, and he’s got numbers to prove it.
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