Physicians Practice - July/August 2008 - (Page 12)

LETTERS “Often I am asked if medicine is a good career choice for young people. Of course it is; if they enter the profession with their eyes wide open to the laws of supply and demand, and the Golden Rule.” THE NEW REALITY AGAINST ENTITLEMENT I faithfully read every issue in its entirety. The March 2008 letters section requires a response, especially to the unfortunate whiner who claims that because of hard work, this doctor “deserve[s] a decent income” because the doctor sacriﬁced long and hard to make it through training. Who forced you into medicine? Who keeps you in medicine? Are you going to live a life of regret because we are no longer in the good old days? Is the grass really greener on the other side? This entitlement mentality is what helps foster the continued loss of liberties, increasing government regulation and intrusion, and ultimately loss of self-determination that is now the current third-partypayer socialized system of healthcare. Who is the customer? To whom do we owe our allegiance? The answers are not as pat as some would have us believe. Yes, the system is in need of revolutionary change. But we more than acquiesced to the current swing. Those involved at the beginning reaped the major beneﬁts; those left must pay the price for that now. Only those not involved in essential health services, such as LASIK and plastic surgery, can thrive outside the current payment system. This is a shame and yet it is reality — unlikely to change any time soon. Often I am asked if medicine is a good career choice for young people. Of course it is, if they enter the profession with their eyes wide open to the laws of supply and demand, and the Golden Rule. This wonderful profession has never had better opportunities to provide value and self-fulﬁllment, although the high incomes are now things of the past. And the exceedingly frustrating level of administrative headaches may be a big turn-off. Hence, the better students now prefer the world of ﬁnance; hence the high rate of attrition of current well-educated, highly motivated, successful physicians. Complaining and feeling self-pity will not accomplish anything. Either accept and embrace the current realities, or do something else. —Mitchell L Levin, MD Winter Park, Fla. OUR MISSION Helping physicians manage their practices more efﬁciently, leading to improved patient care. P U B L I S H I N G S TA F F VICE PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER Ken Karpay kkarpay@physicianspractice.com GENERAL MANAGER Katherine Hermann khermann@physicianspractice.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Pamela L. Moore, PhD pmoore@physicianspractice.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Bob Keaveney bkeaveney@physicianspractice.com MANAGING EDITOR Abigail Beckel, MA abeckel@physicianspractice.com SENIOR EDITOR, PROJECTS Laurie Hyland Robertson lchrobertson@physicianspractice.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Barbara A. Gabriel, MA ASSOCIATE EDITOR Shirley Grace, MA sgrace@physicianspractice.com MANAGING EDITOR, PROJECTS Alyson Siclare asiclare@physicianspractice.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Erica Lukenich elukenich@physicianspractice.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Bill Dacey, Brian Forrest, MD, Bruce Kleaveland, Bob Redling, Bhagwan Satiani, MD, Shelly K. Schwartz, Ken Terry PROJECT MANAGER Amanda Norbury TECHNOLOGY ANALYST Alka Chander DESIGN GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR Nancy Bitteker ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Naddya Chavez ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Bill Ellis H O S P I TA L S T R AT E G I E S ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER steven.gottshall@cmpmedica.com HOSPITAL RELATIONS STRATEGIST shelley.schoenfeld@cmpmedica.com HOSPITAL RELATIONS STRATEGIST DR. TOM REFUTED I could scarcely disagree more with Tom Coburn’s “prescription” outlined in the Editor’s Note in the May 2008 issue. The complicity of physicians in the “broken healthcare system,” the industrial health complex, the greedy entrepreneurship that physicians have forged to the detriment of patients, and the denial of any reasoned thinking of equitable or universal healthcare does not serve our profession well. An intelligent review of private health insurance with its exorbitant overhead costs, CEO salaries/bennies, cherry picking of patients, and destruction of equitable access should lay to rest [the idea] that this is a viable and fair healthcare system. And for all of that, we are not exactly the top rung on the ladder of healthcare in the world. What system do physicians want? It seems pretty clear that many want money, power, no involvement or regulation, free-wheeling to walk it to the bank, and “non-socialized medicine” (whatever that may be). Meanwhile there are clinical, preventive, and public health needs lori.brenner@cmpmedica.com HOSPITAL RELATIONS STRATEGIST tom.reavis@cmpmedica.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Steve Gottshall 773 880 8484 Shelley Schoenfeld 732 393 9696 Lori Brenner 715 384 6711 Tom Reavis 602 790 2652 B U S I N E S S A D V E R T I S I N G S T R AT E G I E S Eric Temple-Morris 503 203 1060 BUSINESS ADVERTISING STRATEGIST, EAST Pamela Peterson pamela.peterson@cmpmedica.com 973 228 1226 BUSINESS ADVERTISING STRATEGIST, MIDWEST, SOUTH Seth Geller seth.geller@cmpmedica.com 443 543 5131 BUSINESS ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Samantha Williamson samantha.williamson@cmpmedica.com 503 203 1059 eric.temple-morris@cmpmedica.com PHARMACEUTICAL ADVERTISING SALES Eric Temple-Morris 503 203 1060 eric.temple-morris@cmpmedica.com BUSINESS SERVICES VICE PRESIDENT/RESEARCH, MARKETING AND CIRCULATION Beatrix Eriksen SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER, B2B STRATEGIES Amy Tubman SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER, HOSPITAL STRATEGIES Monique Grifﬁn TRADESHOW AND EVENTS MARKETING MANAGER Kristin Pichon CLIENT RELATIONS MANAGER Lindsay Moe CLIENT RELATIONS SPECIALIST Monica Dodd GROUP DIRECTOR OF MANUFACTURING AND PRODUCTION Steve Sanborn GROUP PRODUCTION MANAGER Carlos Yanez TRAFFIC PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Melissa Malpica CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING SALES Valley Forge Publishing Group 800 983 7737 HEADQUARTERS: 5523 Research Park Drive, Suite 220 Baltimore, Maryland 21228 Phone: 443 543 5100; Toll Free: 800 781 2211 Fax: 443 543 5170; E-mail: info@physicianspractice.com Web: www.PhysiciansPractice.com FOR SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES FOR PHYSICIANS PRACTICE: Contact Robert Strobolakos at 203 662 6553 or rstrobolakos@cmp.com PHYSICIANS PRACTICE® (ISSN 1072-2912), published by CMP Healthcare Media LLC, is distributed to more than 280,000 U.S. physicians. Copyright © 2008 by CMP Healthcare Media LLC. Single copies $10; annual subscription $56. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Send address changes to: Physicians Practice, c/o CMPMedica, 330 Boston Post Road, Darien, CT 06820; or send by email to wdingle@cmp.com. 12 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | JULY/AUGUST 2008 WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://www.PhysiciansPractice.com http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physicians Practice - July/August 2008

Physicians Practice - July/August 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Battle Royale in the EMR Market Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: Hire Right Noteworthy Cover Story: Healthcare Reform: Voting for Change Patient Relations: Dealing with Problem Patients The tech Doctor: Is Self-Service Medicine Inevitable? Technology: Do EMRs Make You a Better Doctor? The Guide Idealab: Cash-Only Care Still Works The Administrators Desk: Who’s in Charge? Ask The Experts What Went Wrong: ‘Why Our Great Idea Didn’t Work’ Coding Start It Up: How to Launch a Practice: Operations Partnership: Don't Let Partner Conflict Destroy Your Practice Appraisals: What’s Your Practice Worth? Getting Advice: How to Hire a Consultant Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - July/August 2008

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