how do you/will you get people to come in for checkups?

[Dr McSteamy]

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with people nowadays pushing for preventative care and higher reimbursements, how do you get lazy people to come into your office?


i was thinking scare tactics.......

'come on in for the ($2000) full body CT scan. you may have a silent killer lurking within. don't wait until it's too late and expensive to treat.'


no really, how do you pull in more business ?


if you offered a discount for CT scans, and convinced a large number of people to do it, wouldn't you be making bank?


one doc told me that some rich folk like to do these full body CT's, and of course, they pay out of pocket.

 

[asmallchild]

one doc told me that some rich folk like to do these full body CT's, and of course, they pay out of pocket.

Annually? I hope they like tumors.

 

[deleted87716]

I usually just tell them that they need a physical (or whatever preventive service they are due for). I don't advertise. I certainly don't advocate full-body scans.

Hopefully, now that we have an EMR, we'll eventually get to the point where I can proactively contact patients who are overdue for a physical, mammogram, colonoscopy, etc. We're not there yet.

 

[scubadoc78]

I usually just tell them that they need a physical (or whatever preventive service they are due for). I don't advertise. I certainly don't advocate full-body scans.

Hopefully, now that we have an EMR, we'll eventually get to the point where I can proactively contact patients who are overdue for a physical, mammogram, colonoscopy, etc. We're not there yet.

This is a great example of why I'm confused about EMR. It would seem sending out alerts for health maintenance wouldn't be something that would stump a computer. So what gives? Why is EMR taking so long to get setup? It seems like a nightmare everywhere I've been that actually increases work.

 

[deleted87716]

This is a great example of why I'm confused about EMR. It would seem sending out alerts for health maintenance wouldn't be something that would stump a computer. So what gives? Why is EMR taking so long to get setup? It seems like a nightmare everywhere I've been that actually increases work.

We've only been on it for a couple of months. You can't really start any meaningful "data mining" for at least a year or two. It takes a while to build up the database.

 

[scubadoc78]

We've only been on it for a couple of months. You can't really start any meaningful "data mining" for at least a year or two. It takes a while to build up the database.

Are there any EMRs that are interactive between institutions besides the VA?
The VA system is wonderful because you can access records from wherever somebody was in the system. They're from Orlando and now you're in Kansas? No problem, you can still access their records.

I realize this would lead to a huge monopoly, but is that possibly or are there practical reasons (won't work with our hospitals radiology software, etc) I'm not aware of?

 

[deleted87716]

Are there any EMRs that are interactive between institutions besides the VA?

Well, our group's EMR uses a single shared chart across all of the sites in our group, sort of like the VA. Most health systems do the same. There's really no way to easily share charts between different EMRs other than exporting a Continuity of Care Record (CCR), however. At least, not at the present time. Standards are lacking.

 

[scubadoc78]

Well, our group's EMR uses a single shared chart across all of the sites in our group, sort of like the VA. Most health systems do the same. There's really no way to easily share charts between different EMRs other than exporting a Continuity of Care Record (CCR), however. At least, not at the present time. Standards are lacking.

Is this financially motivated? Wouldn't it make sense to have everyone in the country on one, standardized system?

I realize it would cause all sorts of havoc but imagine how fantastic it would be when transferring patients. I can't believe how much time is wasted chasing down notes/consults or trying to upload outside images into our system

 

[scube]

Is this financially motivated? Wouldn't it make sense to have everyone in the country on one, standardized system?

I realize it would cause all sorts of havoc but imagine how fantastic it would be when transferring patients. I can't believe how much time is wasted chasing down notes/consults or trying to upload outside images into our system

Having a standardized format for chart transfer is discussed often. Blue is right they need standards in place. the cool thing is it wont necessarily create a monopoly. its just a standard you have to fit when programming you can still be creative how you convey that information. MP3 is just a standard so that that info can be passed to a great many creative pieces of hardware and software. It would make, in the future, for fantastic proactive preventative care for all patients.

 

[DaveinDallas]

I usually just tell them that they need a physical (or whatever preventive service they are due for). I don't advertise. I certainly don't advocate full-body scans.

Hopefully, now that we have an EMR, we'll eventually get to the point where I can proactively contact patients who are overdue for a physical, mammogram, colonoscopy, etc. We're not there yet.

Blue - realize I'm a 4th year so this may be an ignorant question - Would you also limit the # of refills on chronics meds (ACEIs, metformin, etc.) so that
they have to come in and see you to get refills? I've seen it done and assume it's standard practice.

 

[deleted87716]

Blue - realize I'm a 4th year so this may be an ignorant question - Would you also limit the # of refills on chronics meds (ACEIs, metformin, etc.) so that
they have to come in and see you to get refills? I've seen it done and assume it's standard practice.

It depends on the patient. If somebody has a history of not following up, I'll limit refills to help them "remember" to come back.

 

[cali-ob]

we limit refills on chronic meds at our clinic. I think this is good because it gets people in (especially pain med refills!). But more importantly, it is often necessary to make adjustments to meds every now and then and if you just refill over the phone without examining the patient, how will you know if things are working? My patient population is urban, under served and poorly compliant so for them it is even more important to get them in whenever you can.

 

[deleted87716]

we limit refills on chronic meds at our clinic. I think this is good because it gets people in (especially pain med refills!)

You definitely want to set firm limits with people on chronic pain meds. Everyone in my practice on chronic pain meds signs a pain contract, and their prescriptions are only refilled during scheduled office visits, typically every 3 months. If they fail to come in, they don't get refills. Period.

 

[Dr McSteamy]

You definitely want to set firm limits with people on chronic pain meds. Everyone in my practice on chronic pain meds signs a pain contract, and their prescriptions are only refilled during scheduled office visits, typically every 3 months. If they fail to come in, they don't get refills. Period.

for the noncompliant bunch, they don't care if they run out of meds.

they just stop taking them altogether until something big goes wrong. that's what i noticed in poor neighborhoods

 

[deleted87716]

for the noncompliant bunch, they don't care if they run out of meds.

If they don't care, why should anyone else?

"Dammit, Jim...I'm a doctor, not a vending machine."