You Do Not Satisfy Me

Imagine a world where you have no control of which patients come through your door.  A world where you have no control over how your practice is run.  A world where you still have to see 25-30 patients a day yet worry whether you are pleasing each and every one of them.  A world where you can get in trouble if one out of 500 patients was not satisfied and decides to complain to the hospital administrator.   A world where you can lose money because a patient ate himself into a heart attack or would not take her medication and her blood pressure was too high.  Actually, we live in this world.  Per this article in Forbes:

You are basically a number to be analyzed.  And if you do not satisfy patients enough then you will be punished.  Unless you do Direct Primary Care or some type of cash practice (specialists) then as the article states, “it’s only a matter of time before physicians will see the bulk of their compensation tied to quality measures if current trends hold.”

  • UnitedHealth Group, for example, reported earlier this year that nearly 60% of the insurer’s $130 billion in annual medical spending is value-based models.
  • And Aetna, the nation’s third-largest health insurer, and CVS Health, the large drugstore chain, have promised more value-based reimbursement models once their merger is complete later this year.
  • “In this digital age of instant gratification, medical practices need to take steps to remain competitive and keep their patients satisfied,” MGMA’s Fischer-Wright said in a statement to Forbes. 

Imagine CONTINUING to practice in this world where many patients act like King Joffrey from Game of Thrones.  Let me also remind you that the only evidence on these quality indicators and metrics shows that it DOESN’T work!  Let me also remind you that every organization that represents us in some manner (AMA, AOA, AAFP, ACP, etc) all support “working” with these groups and value-based reimbursement models.

The time to revolt is now before it is too late because it may be.

At least be well with one of our t-shirts.