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CF 124: w/ Dr. Michael Massey - What We Are Doing Wrong, Medicolegal Thoughts, and How We Better Protect Ourselves
CF 124: w/ Dr. Michael Massey - What We Are Doing Wrong, Medicolegal Thoughts, and How We Better Protect Ourselves
Today we’re joined by Dr. Michael Massey. We’re going to talk about What We chiropractors Are Doing Wrong, we’ll talk about Medicolegal things, and we’ll talk about How chiropractors can go about Better Protecting Ourselves
But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
Subscribe button
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around.
We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.
I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.
If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
- Like our facebook page,
- Join our private facebook group and interact, and then
- go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
- We also have an evidence-based brochure and poster store at chiropracticforward.com
- While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter. No spam, just a reminder when the newest episodes go live. Nothing special so don’t worry about signing up. Just one a week friends. Check your JUNK folder!!
Do it do it do it.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #124
Now if you missed last week’s episode , we talked about the primary spinal practitioner program, gabapentin, and cervical curvatures. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
While we’re on the topic of being smart, did you know that you can use our website as a resource? Quick and easy, you can go to chiropracticforward.com, click on Episodes, and use the search function to find whatever you want quickly and easily. With over 100 episodes in the tank and an average of 2-3 papers covered per episode, we have somewhere between 250 and 300 papers that can be quickly referenced along with their talking points.
Just so you know, all of the research we talk about in each episode is cited in the show notes for each episode if you’re looking to dive in a little deeper.
On the personal end of things…..
Before we get to our guest this week, I did a thing
Being an evidence-informed practitioner can present a set of problems at times. Mostly problems with regard to patient volume because we don’t typically treat patient with long-term recommendations. So we see them come and go depending on if they hurt or not. It can lead to lulls, disappoitnment, and boredom if there’s not a steady stream of new patients coming through your pearly gates each and every month.
I have taken various courses over the years at Udemy so when I decided to create a course, I immediately thought Udemy would be a good place to start.
While I’m still building the course and adding content every week, it’s live and ready to go for those interested in getting started. I’m putting the link to the course at this point in the show notes.
https://www.udemy.com/course/marketing-evidence-based-chiropractic/?referralCode=36A4D91C66B48300360B
Over the last two years or so, I’ve averaged almost 80 new patients every month as a solo practitioner. If you’re interested, I created, basically, my playbook for marketing and my thoughts on each topic or technique. I also have created downloads, checklists, and examples to show what my stuff looks like.
Just go to udemy.com and do a search on Marketing An Evidence Based Chiropractic Practice and check it out. It will grow and expand in the coming months and if you get just one patient from the ideas shared in it, it paid for itself. Now imagine if you get a bunch….well then it’s priceless. udemy.com and the course is called Marketing and Evidence-based Chiropractic Practice.
I usually drop some personal thoughts and updates on the clinic and things like that. When we have a guest join me on the show, I typically drop that section and just get on with it. It’s no different today. So, let’s get on with it.
Today we are joined by Dr. Michael Massey who hails from the great state of Tennessee. Athens, TN to be exact with is just Northeast of Chattanooga.
Dr. Michael Massey has been in private practice for nearly 30 years and is no stranger to the inner workings of insurance companies or the creation and administration of regulations. He has worked in and around commercial and federal insurance carriers for most of his time in practice, serving as a liaison, a consultant, and a contracted employee.
He is also a certified coder, a certified healthcare quality manager, and a quality assurance/utilization review diplomate. He has additionally served as the president of his state chiropractic association, a delegate to the American Chiropractic Association, the chairman of the ACA Coding and Reimbursement Committee, and as a 10-year member of his state Board of Chiropractic Examiners, while simultaneously serving as a delegate to both the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards and the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
He also regularly serves as a nationally-sought expert witness for malpractice and insurance fraud cases. This diverse experience offers him a unique perspective and a comprehensive skill set to speak on insurance matters, coding, documentation, HIPAA, Medicare, compliance, personal injury ,and risk management.
Welcome to the show Dr. Massey. May I call you Mike or Michael?
Now, first question is, how are you enjoying this grand global pandemic we’re currently blessed with?
I have been to Nashville a few times but only recall going through Chattanooga one time when I was on a family vacation back when I was a freshman in high school. I recall it being one of the most beautiful areas I’d ever seen and, from what I remember, I’d probably still classify it that way. I did a little research on Athens, TN. It appears the population is 13,458 hoomans. My region is about 280,000 for comparison sake. What’s it like practicing in a small town setting where you only have that many to draw from for new patients? Or are you close enough to Chattanooga that you can draw off of their population as well?
We met through the miracles of the private Facebook group called the Forward Thinking Chiropractic Alliance. You are typically pretty active in the group and then we met face to face at the Forward ’19 event out in St. Louis back in September. You were teaching a class on Documentation with Dr. Greg Friedman.
I love the group. I’m active here and there, I’ve joined the membership, I support the group. I see the value for sure. While I’m minimally active, I have learned a lot from others just by lurking a little. OK….lurking a lot. What would you say you’ve found to be your biggest takeaway from the FTCA group? What’s been the big bang for the buck for you with it?
Documentation is not typically something find much fascination in but you guys did a good job taking a dry subject and communicating the information in a way that was interesting.
Coding and documentation, for me, can be like pouring salt or maybe hot sauce in my eyeballs. I find it displeasing in general. So, what on Earth got you into coding and documentation? Why is that, of all things, your wheelhouse?
From a procedural coding perspective, what are the most common mistakes made by chiropractors?
How about from a diagnostic coding perspective?
I don’t know how other states are but here in TX, we have to have 4 hours of medicare, ethics, and documentation every year. Required hours. I think it’s insane to force grown professionals to do this when we could be learning how to take better care of our patients. I can see maybe every other year or every 5 years as a refresher. But I’m not down with every year. What’s your view on this?
Relative to clinical documentation, what are the top two or three nuggets of advice you’d offer to both newer doctors as well as those who have been in practice for a while?
You’ve had a good bit of experience working with insurance companies, can you offer some insight into their perception of our profession? Where do they seem to believe we fit best in the system? What are their primary concerns or frustrations with us?
Now we collaborated briefly on a case you were working on recently having to do with stroke. I believe you were defending a chiro if I’m not mistaken. How’d it turn out? Did the good guys win the day?
When we’re talking about risk management, as we just mentioned, you have experience doing expert witness work for malpractice cases. Is there any consistency in the types of lawsuits you’re seeing? Are the allegations typically similar? Are there specific things chiropractors do/don’t do that seem to trigger lawsuits?
How did you get into the med/legal work?
How do you prepare to be a good witness?
What are a few critical risk management tips you wish every chiropractor knew?
Let’s talk about something I know is near and dear to you and you’ve been putting together for a while now. Pretty much since we first traded private messages through Facebook. It’s called Practice Mechanics and it’s something you’ve put together with Dr. Rob Pape out in California.
Rob is another very active member and moderator with the FTCA group. I talk a lot about FTCA on this podcast. I should push my private group as much as I push FTCA. Lol. But there are less in my private group and the FTCA members are way more active.
Anyway, Rob is like the jedi ninja dude in there and always has an interesting take on whatever the post of the day happens to be. Tell me about Practice Mechanics, tell me about teaming up with Rob on this project, and give us some clue of who it would be good for, where it’s at, and where it’s going? What’s the big picture?
We’re going to link the Practice Mechanics website at this point in the show notes at chiropracticforward.com so you can go find out more about it. https://www.practice-mechanics.com
Thanks for coming on the show with us, Dr. Massey.
Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Continue taking care of yourselves and taking care of your neighbors. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, belive it, count on it.
Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.
Key Takeaways
Store
Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.
Subscribe Button
The Message
I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots.
When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few.
It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient.
And, if the patient treats preventativly after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints….
That’s Chiropractic!
Contact
Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.
Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.
We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect
We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Website
http://www.chiropracticforward.com
Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/
Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/
https://twitter.com/Chiro_Forward
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtc-IrhlK19hWlhaOGld76Q
iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing/id1331554445?mt=2
Player FM Link
https://player.fm/series/2291021
Stitcher:
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing-through
TuneIn
https://tunein.com/podcasts/Health--Wellness-Podcasts/The-Chiropractic-Forward-Podcast-Chiropractors-Pr-p1089415/
About the Author & Host
Dr. Jeff Williams - Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
View all episodes
By Dr. Jeff WilliamsCF 124: w/ Dr. Michael Massey - What We Are Doing Wrong, Medicolegal Thoughts, and How We Better Protect Ourselves
Today we’re joined by Dr. Michael Massey. We’re going to talk about What We chiropractors Are Doing Wrong, we’ll talk about Medicolegal things, and we’ll talk about How chiropractors can go about Better Protecting Ourselves
But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
Subscribe button
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around.
We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.
I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.
If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
- Like our facebook page,
- Join our private facebook group and interact, and then
- go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
- We also have an evidence-based brochure and poster store at chiropracticforward.com
- While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter. No spam, just a reminder when the newest episodes go live. Nothing special so don’t worry about signing up. Just one a week friends. Check your JUNK folder!!
Do it do it do it.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #124
Now if you missed last week’s episode , we talked about the primary spinal practitioner program, gabapentin, and cervical curvatures. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
While we’re on the topic of being smart, did you know that you can use our website as a resource? Quick and easy, you can go to chiropracticforward.com, click on Episodes, and use the search function to find whatever you want quickly and easily. With over 100 episodes in the tank and an average of 2-3 papers covered per episode, we have somewhere between 250 and 300 papers that can be quickly referenced along with their talking points.
Just so you know, all of the research we talk about in each episode is cited in the show notes for each episode if you’re looking to dive in a little deeper.
On the personal end of things…..
Before we get to our guest this week, I did a thing
Being an evidence-informed practitioner can present a set of problems at times. Mostly problems with regard to patient volume because we don’t typically treat patient with long-term recommendations. So we see them come and go depending on if they hurt or not. It can lead to lulls, disappoitnment, and boredom if there’s not a steady stream of new patients coming through your pearly gates each and every month.
I have taken various courses over the years at Udemy so when I decided to create a course, I immediately thought Udemy would be a good place to start.
While I’m still building the course and adding content every week, it’s live and ready to go for those interested in getting started. I’m putting the link to the course at this point in the show notes.
https://www.udemy.com/course/marketing-evidence-based-chiropractic/?referralCode=36A4D91C66B48300360B
Over the last two years or so, I’ve averaged almost 80 new patients every month as a solo practitioner. If you’re interested, I created, basically, my playbook for marketing and my thoughts on each topic or technique. I also have created downloads, checklists, and examples to show what my stuff looks like.
Just go to udemy.com and do a search on Marketing An Evidence Based Chiropractic Practice and check it out. It will grow and expand in the coming months and if you get just one patient from the ideas shared in it, it paid for itself. Now imagine if you get a bunch….well then it’s priceless. udemy.com and the course is called Marketing and Evidence-based Chiropractic Practice.
I usually drop some personal thoughts and updates on the clinic and things like that. When we have a guest join me on the show, I typically drop that section and just get on with it. It’s no different today. So, let’s get on with it.
Today we are joined by Dr. Michael Massey who hails from the great state of Tennessee. Athens, TN to be exact with is just Northeast of Chattanooga.
Dr. Michael Massey has been in private practice for nearly 30 years and is no stranger to the inner workings of insurance companies or the creation and administration of regulations. He has worked in and around commercial and federal insurance carriers for most of his time in practice, serving as a liaison, a consultant, and a contracted employee.
He is also a certified coder, a certified healthcare quality manager, and a quality assurance/utilization review diplomate. He has additionally served as the president of his state chiropractic association, a delegate to the American Chiropractic Association, the chairman of the ACA Coding and Reimbursement Committee, and as a 10-year member of his state Board of Chiropractic Examiners, while simultaneously serving as a delegate to both the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards and the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
He also regularly serves as a nationally-sought expert witness for malpractice and insurance fraud cases. This diverse experience offers him a unique perspective and a comprehensive skill set to speak on insurance matters, coding, documentation, HIPAA, Medicare, compliance, personal injury ,and risk management.
Welcome to the show Dr. Massey. May I call you Mike or Michael?
Now, first question is, how are you enjoying this grand global pandemic we’re currently blessed with?
I have been to Nashville a few times but only recall going through Chattanooga one time when I was on a family vacation back when I was a freshman in high school. I recall it being one of the most beautiful areas I’d ever seen and, from what I remember, I’d probably still classify it that way. I did a little research on Athens, TN. It appears the population is 13,458 hoomans. My region is about 280,000 for comparison sake. What’s it like practicing in a small town setting where you only have that many to draw from for new patients? Or are you close enough to Chattanooga that you can draw off of their population as well?
We met through the miracles of the private Facebook group called the Forward Thinking Chiropractic Alliance. You are typically pretty active in the group and then we met face to face at the Forward ’19 event out in St. Louis back in September. You were teaching a class on Documentation with Dr. Greg Friedman.
I love the group. I’m active here and there, I’ve joined the membership, I support the group. I see the value for sure. While I’m minimally active, I have learned a lot from others just by lurking a little. OK….lurking a lot. What would you say you’ve found to be your biggest takeaway from the FTCA group? What’s been the big bang for the buck for you with it?
Documentation is not typically something find much fascination in but you guys did a good job taking a dry subject and communicating the information in a way that was interesting.
Coding and documentation, for me, can be like pouring salt or maybe hot sauce in my eyeballs. I find it displeasing in general. So, what on Earth got you into coding and documentation? Why is that, of all things, your wheelhouse?
From a procedural coding perspective, what are the most common mistakes made by chiropractors?
How about from a diagnostic coding perspective?
I don’t know how other states are but here in TX, we have to have 4 hours of medicare, ethics, and documentation every year. Required hours. I think it’s insane to force grown professionals to do this when we could be learning how to take better care of our patients. I can see maybe every other year or every 5 years as a refresher. But I’m not down with every year. What’s your view on this?
Relative to clinical documentation, what are the top two or three nuggets of advice you’d offer to both newer doctors as well as those who have been in practice for a while?
You’ve had a good bit of experience working with insurance companies, can you offer some insight into their perception of our profession? Where do they seem to believe we fit best in the system? What are their primary concerns or frustrations with us?
Now we collaborated briefly on a case you were working on recently having to do with stroke. I believe you were defending a chiro if I’m not mistaken. How’d it turn out? Did the good guys win the day?
When we’re talking about risk management, as we just mentioned, you have experience doing expert witness work for malpractice cases. Is there any consistency in the types of lawsuits you’re seeing? Are the allegations typically similar? Are there specific things chiropractors do/don’t do that seem to trigger lawsuits?
How did you get into the med/legal work?
How do you prepare to be a good witness?
What are a few critical risk management tips you wish every chiropractor knew?
Let’s talk about something I know is near and dear to you and you’ve been putting together for a while now. Pretty much since we first traded private messages through Facebook. It’s called Practice Mechanics and it’s something you’ve put together with Dr. Rob Pape out in California.
Rob is another very active member and moderator with the FTCA group. I talk a lot about FTCA on this podcast. I should push my private group as much as I push FTCA. Lol. But there are less in my private group and the FTCA members are way more active.
Anyway, Rob is like the jedi ninja dude in there and always has an interesting take on whatever the post of the day happens to be. Tell me about Practice Mechanics, tell me about teaming up with Rob on this project, and give us some clue of who it would be good for, where it’s at, and where it’s going? What’s the big picture?
We’re going to link the Practice Mechanics website at this point in the show notes at chiropracticforward.com so you can go find out more about it. https://www.practice-mechanics.com
Thanks for coming on the show with us, Dr. Massey.
Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Continue taking care of yourselves and taking care of your neighbors. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, belive it, count on it.
Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.
Key Takeaways
Store
Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.
Subscribe Button
The Message
I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots.
When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few.
It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient.
And, if the patient treats preventativly after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints….
That’s Chiropractic!
Contact
Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.
Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.
We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect
We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Website
http://www.chiropracticforward.com
Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/
Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/
https://twitter.com/Chiro_Forward
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtc-IrhlK19hWlhaOGld76Q
iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing/id1331554445?mt=2
Player FM Link
https://player.fm/series/2291021
Stitcher:
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing-through
TuneIn
https://tunein.com/podcasts/Health--Wellness-Podcasts/The-Chiropractic-Forward-Podcast-Chiropractors-Pr-p1089415/
About the Author & Host
Dr. Jeff Williams - Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger