The Centers: My Top 10
Published July 7, 2014
As we have all agonized over and struggled with the issues surrounding Go Live with The Centers this year, it is easy to forget sometimes why we created this group, and the successes we have had so far. As we continue to move forward, I thought it would be helpful to remind ourselves of these things. I really want to look at the concrete benefits we have received, not even discussing those we all hope will come. With apologies to David Letterman, these are my Top 10 reasons for being happy with The Centers:
- I love being a daily source of irritation for MedStar, and all the other health care organizations who felt they could force us into their plans for the future, whether it was to our benefit and our patients’, or not. They realize we will not be dictated to.
- I love that my daily practice routine has not changed one bit. My staff is the same, my schedule is the same, my computer is the same. While I understand that one of our goals is to change my practice for the better, based on good data and shared experience, it will change when and how I choose for it to do so.
- I love saving money on malpractice insurance. This is a necessary evil for all of us, but it is nice to see the decrease in that line item on my expense report. Anything that gives lawyers and insurance companies less money has to be a good thing.
- Speaking of insurance companies, I love that they actually return our calls. I realize this is mainly due to Tom Melvin’s charm, but it’s nice nonetheless. Our group spent two years trying to get a contract with Aetna and United, and they wouldn’t really even speak to us. Now my office staff is not turning those patients away.
- I really enjoy not spending so much time listening to people talk to me about employee health insurance, disability insurance, retirement plans, etc., and not spending as much of my money providing them. I am very aware that these are the things that keep good staffs, and the feedback from my staff, at least, has been positive. I just don’t like to spend time dealing with them.
- I love not spending as much on our new X-ray equipment. It is still a small fortune, but buying equipment and supplies in bulk is one more cut in my overhead. This represents a great savings without doing more work, which is always a good thing.
- I love that we were able to recruit a new partner in less than two years. This may seem strange for some members of The Centers, but those of us out in the sticks have sometimes struggled to recruit new partners. We interviewed two candidates, offered the position to one and he took it. The existence of The Centers, with its financial stability and its ability to adapt to the changing healthcare market was a major selling point to him.
- I really enjoy having other surgeons, competitors to a degree, call me to see how they can join our group. That shows me that outsiders are recognizing the importance of what we have done, and it confirms the rationale behind all our work. I also enjoy laughing, at least to myself, at all the people who said we would never be able to get this off the ground.
- I love being able to call a partner directly, or e-mail the group as a whole, for help with a complex patient. No more fighting through the secretaries at the university hospitals, trying to speak to someone, anyone. Recently, I had a patient in the office, called Phil Schneider directly, set things up with his staff and gave the patient her appointment, all while the patient was there in the office, without completely disrupting my clinic. The patient and her family were so appreciative to Phil, but also to me. I have had other cases when I didn’t really know who to call, and had multiple offers to help in a matter of an hour or two. This is how The Centers has benefitted our patients.
- And my final, and most important, reason why I love The Centers is getting back the confidence that I control, to a large degree, my future. There is no doubt healthcare is going to change, and anyone who claims to be certain how is a fool. However, The Centers gives me confidence that we will not have to be carried along with the flow, but that we will have a significant influence on the direction we head. We can have better data to make decisions with, and we can act on that data more quickly and efficiently than those who will try to force us in their direction.