Health Care going to HELL-----got to read this --WOW

 
Subject: A DOCTORS VIEW
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:45:36 -0400
j

Subject: Re: Fwd: Florida Hospital

Yes, I've seen this before. The situation is actually worse than described. If you travel South and Southwest along our border with Mexico, you will not find hospitals. They closed. They went broke. Illegal aliens were crossing the border to get 'free' health care in the U.S. These hospitals didn't receive any reimbursement from anyone for the care provided.
Over 5 years ago, I quit Medicaid. The reason: no payment. The state would not pay me. I could not keep open that many hours and pay the extra staff. The money wasn't there.
Within the foreseeable future, I anticipate that Medicare reimbursement will be cut. I estimate, based on the figures published that the reimbursement for an office call will be less than $40. On average, Medicare patients are older, have more medical problems, more complications from treatment, less resources, and sometimes have problems with cognition and memory. You also spend extra time on the phone with friends, relatives, licensed caregivers, and agencies addressing their health care needs. Don't forget all of the faxes and forms that have to be addressed. That is part of the reason I usually get to the office between 4 and 4:30 a.m. It takes time to go thru all of the faxes and requested orders. It's really important to review each chart carefully before approving a treatment requested by a nurse or other health care provider. Last week I received a form from a physical therapist requesting that a muscle relaxant be prescribed for a patient receiving physical therapy. I wrote back that I couldn't give muscle relaxants to a patient with a history of myasthenia gravis. Last week they sent me a package of forms that I filled out. A few days later, they said that I didn't have to fill out the forms, that I failed to sign the correct one. A couple of days later they finally sent me the correct form. They didn't send it in the original package, but they acted like they did.
Some of the agencies are quite arrogant. When they request something that is not appropriate for a patient, and I refuse to order it, I never hear from them again. They get the patient another doctor that will comply with their wishes. I don't think that they appreciate the fact that I have decades of experience with these patients. They have only hours.
For years, some specialists have divided the initial(new) patient evaluation into 2 or 3 visits. They have to do it because the reimbursement for the first visit doesn't even cover the overhead. This means that the Medicare patient has to make extra trips to the specialist.
A couple of years ago, the psychiatrist I referred patients to, left the area. The overhead was high, the reimbursement was too low. He didn't even have a secretary. Instead, he had an answering machine. A very bright physician. He even diagnosed Myasthenia gravis in an elderly lady. That is not easy to do. 
His work was excellent, reports being up to three pages typed single spaced.
Government regulation drove up the cost of medicine. More government regulation will not reduce costs, but it will reduce availability.
Dm
     


 
 
 
 
"ORBIS NON SUFFICIT"