Doctor's Digest

If your practice is seeing more uninsured patients these days, and if you're therefore experiencing a sharp decline in revenue, you're hardly alone. As recent surveys have shown, economic hard times have had profound effects on both physicians and patients across the country. But the good news is that there are things you can do to make it easier for patients to pay their bills—and to increase your own revenue as a result.

Many say that reforming Medicare and shoring up the physician payment system are going to be the real key to any reform effort. As James Rohack, MD, president of the American Medical Association, points out, “When payments don't cover the cost of providing 21st century medical care, it is difficult for physicians to continue to care for all Medicare patients and make quality improvements to their practice.”

What effects has the economic recession had on patient care? Plenty. Despite the wishful thinking of some who believe that medicine is impervious to economic downturns, it's likely that you've been seeing a number of effects in your own practice: empty gaps in your schedule, maybe, or problems in collecting payments, or patients who show up sicker because they've postponed their preventive care in order to cut corners.

The recession and its aftermath have inspired many physicians to reconsider changes in their practice that they would have either ignored or discounted before. Some of those changes may make enough business sense for you to retain even after the economy makes a full recovery.

Given the alarmingly high number of medication errors, how hard is it to ensure medication safety for your patients? As it turns out, it may be easier than you might imagine, given today's tools like electronic prescribing and medication reconciliation.

According to the Consumers Union 2009 Safe Patient Project, “More than 100,000 patients still needlessly die every year in U.S. hospitals and healthcare settings–infected because of sloppy compliance with basic cleanliness policies, injured by failure to follow simple checklists for safety.”

How much do you know about the requirements for reporting errors made in your primary care practice? A good place to update what you know is the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005.

Why has it been so difficult to create a healthcare system that can prevent medical harm? As a recent report from the Consumers Union stated, “There have been countless task forces, conferences, editorials, and even episodes of Oprah focused on patient safety. But action...has been sluggish, leaving us without reliable means to track our progress or hold the local healthcare systems accountable for ending preventable patient harm.”

Have you ever considered creating your own blog? An online blog is an excellent way to establish your reputation as a trusted source of information on a specific healthcare topic. If you have a well-written blog that you update frequently, this device can build your credibility in the local community and serve as a stepping-stone to regional or even national opportunities in speaking, specialty leadership, or publishing.

It's not easy to stay on top of online trends: What's hot today may shift quickly in the fast-moving world of technology. But there is one bottom line that you can ignore only at your own peril: the fact that every medical professional should have a Website.