Hi,
I just find my Medicare rate is reduced in 2012. Not much, but I feel it's harder & harder to stay afloat in this tough economy with revenue shrinking and cost goes up. I think us as soloist will face more and more financial challenge in the future; maybe some of us already have this problem. One solution is to work harder, see more patients; but you will probably burn out faster. Is there any way we could turn things around: increase revenue, control the # of pts you see everyday and also provide service that pts needed?
I was thinking very hard. Does anyone have experience with non-invasive fat reduction treatment (a huge market)? If we could identify one or two such methods, we could easily add it to our practice as a side service to our pts. It must meet the following criteria?s:
1. It has to be safe and effective.
2. It does not require the involvement of the physician; a trained & certified staff can run it.
3. It should cost less or much less than current invasive methods (i.e.: smartlipo) so more people could afford it.
Yes, it's against what most of us intends to do when we entered into medicine field originally. But we should adapter in order to survive.
One of the advantages for us is "marketing". Everyone has a large patient?s base, and if we offer something pts want, we don't have to spend a fortune to market it. And from the limited amount of research I did, there are more and more solo medical practices start to enter this field (probably being forced into).
Please comment on:
1. Do you think it is morally right to do this?
2. Will this affect our image in our patients?
3. Which non-invasive fat reducing treatment is the best for this? Why?
4. If you already ahead of us and running a side job like this, which treatment are you using? Any experience? What do you think that is critical to the success? Population? Income level? Marketing strategy? Staff quality? Selection of the right patient?
We cannot just sit idle and waiting for the mercy of insurance companies and Medicare to not drop our rates too fast. We have to fight back!
