Leaving Insurance-Based Practice….Legally!

Faced with ever-growing bureaucracy and continued declines in reimbursement, more practitioners than ever are contemplating a shift into some form of direct-pay or retainer practice. But the move out of insurance-based practice is not without medicolegal risks, and needs to be done very carefully, says Alan Dumoff, JD, a lawyer specializing in integrative practice issues.

Heal Thy Practice 2011: Improving Outcomes, Improving Incomes

The need for lifestyle-based medicine is stronger than ever, as is the public’s valuation of it despite the economic doldrums. Holistic Primary Care’s Third Annual Heal Thy Practice: Transforming Primary Care conference in Long Beach, CA, Nov. 4-6, provides opportunity to learn about transformative practice models and therapeutic techniques from clinicians who’ve successfully put them into real-world practice. Here are some practice pearls from our faculty.

Heal Thy Practice 2011: Improving Patient Outcomes, Creating Healthier Practices

Building on the strengths and successes of our previous Heal Thy Practice meetings, Holistic Primary Care’s 2011 Heal Thy Practice is hitting the California coast! Set for Nov. 4-6, at the Renaissance Long Beach hotel, the program brings together pioneers of integrative medicine and innovative practice systems. Over two and a half days, they’ll share their years of experience and practical wisdom on how to put the health, the wealth—and most importantly, the joy⎯back into clinical practice. Register Now!

The Case for Office-Based Dispensing

In a recent survey three out of four Americans said that given the choice, they would prefer to fill their medication prescriptions and get their supplements in their doctor’s office instead of having to make a separate trip to a retail store. While only a small percentage of US doctors currently offer this option, many are considering office-based dispensing. It can improve clinical outcomes while simultaneously improving the fiscal health of beleaugered physicians’ practices.

Crafting Illusion & Creating Collusion: How Insurance Industry “Spin” Controls Medical Practice

Doctors–and their patients–have much more to fear from Wall Street than from the government, says Wendell Potter, former director of corporate communications for CIGNA health insurance. Following a crisis of conscience during the debates on the Obama administration’s health care reform plan, Mr. Potter left CIGNA and went public with everything he knows about the insurance industry’s “Dark Arts.” His goal? To wake people up to the ways in which corporate interests manipulate health care policy. His book, Deadly Spin, is as fascinating as it is frightening. In this exclusive interview, Mr. Potter spoke with Holistic Primary Care about the long history of collusion between organized medicine and Big Insurance—an uneasy alliance that has ultimately been detrimental to patients and physicians alike.

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.

When the Bubble Bursts…An Interview with Dr. Garrison Bliss, Medical Director, Qliance

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!

Want an Ideal Clinic? Collaborate With Your Community

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?

PCI Offers “STEPs” for Building Prevention-Focused Practice

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.

New Survey Data Highlight Convergence of Conventional & Holistic Medicine

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!