Like any other business, they need to have a good business plan and execute it. Granted that is very hard to do when the government's thumb is on top of you.
I agree that its becoming more difficult to operate a private practice. That said, my observation is that most doctors are horrible business administrators. The most obvious example is the wait time for the average private clinic. There really is no excuse for a patient to have to wait more than an hour to see the doctor but it has become the norm.
I'm sure there are things docs can do to operate more efficiently, but the cuts in reimbursements are a real drain on any doctor. Couple that with the hassles and delays associated with getting reimbursed (Thanks, Rick Perry!), and one can easily understand the squeeze.
Give a middle finger to the insurance companies and ask people to pay for things in cash. If you're a good doctor people will pay for your service, if you're not they'll get it from someone better. Doctors don't make medical decisions - they treat according to what they'll get reimbursed on from the insurance companies. And if they begin veering from insurance protocol, the insurance company will drop them from their plan and boom goes the dynamite on that doc's practice. Basically the insurance companies scared docs into thinking that attorney's are the devil, when it is in fact the insurance companies.
I loved it when the price of my surgery got cut in half when the doctor realized I was paying cash and not going through insurance.
Deez, personally I think the biggest problems with the thread comments involve the misunderstanding of the business side of healthcare. However, f you want to focus on the lawyer portion of the misinformation and false logic, I can understand that.
Did someone in this thread seriously just try to pin the blame for out of control medical malpractice lawsuits on health insurance companies???
I opted for an HSA instead of an HMO this year. I honestly wish I could attend a community education class on smarter access to health care. So far in my life I've wasted money on expensive MRIs and emergency room visits when an appointment with an orthopedist, even without my insurance helping, would have been a lot cheaper for me, much less my insurer, not to mention getting me well faster. I allowed a colonoscopy for a problem that was easily treated with cheap, generic drugs, not realizing that I had a $600 copay with the doctor, $600 with the hospital and $300 with the anesthetis. My advice is deal only with doctors who will talk things out with you and have a concept of costs. When it comes to a choice of expensive procedures or expensive expertise, opt for the latter first and the former may not be necessary. Overall, I'd opt for more communication and fewer procedures.
