MED3OOO Clinical Newsletter - June 2010
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By Paul McLeod, M.D., MED3OOO Chief Medical Executive Unfortunately, the short term answer will not involve producing more primary care physicians. Despite the looming shortage, the number of training slots in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Pediatrics is static. Already, these physicians feel like they are compelled to "churn" in a struggle to meet the expectations of their patients and maintain revenues in the face of declining reimbursements. An interesting insight into the problem is outlined in an article by Richard Baron, M.D., "What's Keeping Us So Busy in Primary Care? A Snapshot from One Practice," published in the April 29, 2010, New England Journal of Medicine. By using data from his electronic medical record (EMR) system, the author was able to quantify the different patient services that he and his partners performed each day. One of those services was patient visits, the primary driver of revenue. Not surprisingly, their work day involved a variety of other services that produced very little, if any remuneration. Primary care physicians are expected to manage telephone calls and refill prescriptions. If those tasks require minimal time and resources as compared to patient visits, the system will work. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Over the course of one year, Dr. Baron and his colleagues provided 16,640 patient visits; BUT, they also managed more than 21,700 clinical telephone calls, 11,145 prescription refills, more than 15,000 emails, almost 18,000 lab reports, and 10,229 imaging reports. Although some of these services can be provided by office staff, the majority actually required the physician's time. It is no wonder that primary care physicians feel pressured and exhausted on a daily basis. Truthfully, the same scenario plays itself out in the practices of many specialists as well. Healthcare reform alone will not provide solutions for the time and resource management challenges that result from these demands, nor will any single technology. The author's practice had EMR, yet, he still felt overwhelmed at times by the sheer number of time-consuming tasks that filled the day beyond patient care. Technology solutions should not add an undue burden to the tasks directly performed by the physician. An EMR should aid in information management, not just function as a high-end word processor to produce office notes. We must place a great deal of importance on efficient mangement of tasks that do not produce direct revenue, touch each of these the fewest number of times possible, and make sure to match up the skills of those in the office with the tasks to be performed. Physicians need to define the work that they must do as opposed to the work that others in their practice could do on the physician's behalf. MED3OOO has the ability to dissect complex practice management problems and create actionable plans that enhance quality and efficiency. So next time you will not dread the question, "How was your day?"
Is your patient volume down? Are your patients neglecting their routine and preventive care? Do you need to reconnect with patients that have not been seen in over a year? Do you need to identify those patients in your practice who should be recalled for needed services? If so, consider using our patient outreach MED3OOO/Connect technology powered by Phytel. MED3OOO/Connect can automate the process of identifying those patients in your practice who should be recalled for needed services. If you would like to proactively reach out to your patients with an automated patient recall process, please contact your account manager or Scott Madden at Scott_Madden@MED3000.com.
For a printable version of this newsletter click here: Clinical June2010 |
