Hammering a Nail with a Ham Sandwich
CMS soon will require ACOs to take downside risk. Forget participating in shared-savings. If your expenditures are less than your comparative benchmarks, you’re are going to have to pay—out of your own pocket. And it will happen. I sat across the table from a few of my partners as they had to […]
How to Help a Grieving Friend
This space is reserved for high-value tips to help patients get better healthcare safely. Here is one of the highest-value tips I’ve ever offered. How to help someone deal with their pain. Not the most uplifting topic I know, but an essential one. And after four minutes you’ll discover how to […]
How to Avoid Failure in a Telemedicine Practice
Don’t quit. Quitting is the greatest barrier to setting up your own telemedicine practice. Telemedicine is so new and the providers still so much a work in progress that after a few challenging experience clinicians just give up. Strong willed physicians—physicians who toughed their way through the most difficult rotations, who have delivered […]
Getting Paid for Amputations Above the Waist
Amputations below the waist are associated with additional compensation under Medicare Advantage. Amputations above the waist are not. Don’t ask why, that’s just the way it is. Prosthetic leg—you get additional payments to offset the cost. Prosthetic arm—not so much. However, phantom limb syndrome with pain (G54.6) or without pain […]
Sunday Links
The font of your expertise A little different Sunday Links today. Here’s a listing of the greatest hits from my blog for the past 18 months, each one guaranteed to help you do better. Read every one of them? That’s how you become a Medicare Advantage Master. Medicare Advantage Lessons Learned The last […]
Saturday Quiz
Designed to Amuse and Enlighten With an equal disease burden, age and all residing in the same county, which of the following individuals would give you the greatest monthly capitation: A. Someone who became Medicare eligible because of reaching age 65 B. Someone who became Medicare eligible because of a disability. C. Someone who […]
The Day My Staff Revolted
One day I had had enough. And boy did I learn something. Something about the power of persuasion. I should explain. You have the second-best office staff in the nation. How do I know that? Because I had the first. Top to bottom. Compassionate, skilled, team-oriented. Fun. […]
People Who Work With Me Succeed
I blog daily to give my “tribe” a single high-value tip every day that will help them do better for themselves—and by their patients. A recent encounter with a new client led me to the tactic I’m going to share today. I tried to always ask my new patients how they found me. […]
The One Questions You MUST Ask When Selecting a Hospice for a Loved One
“How long has the average nurse been with your organization?’ Less than one year—run One year to five years—ask some more questions. More than five years—no more questions needed. Hospice itself is a hard job. As you can imagine, burnout is common. And given the fact that most are now […]
Why is My Telemedicine Side Gig Not Working?
You went through a recruiter. “Dr. Tom I’ve tried several telemedicine services but have never gotten the volume I expected. What have I done wrong?” A common question. And a common reason why docs give up on telemedicine services so quickly. When you’re hired through a recruiter, the recruiter gets a […]