Video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHXXTCc-IVg&feature=rec-fresh

I am a health care provider.  I am also part of the new generation of health care providers.  Pharmaceuticals is a big part of how we practice.  We are marketed to from every direction from big pharma.  These companies have money.  More than you can imagine.  There is so much money, that a few years back, there had to be legislation on how that money was spent on doctors.  I remember I got into practice on the tail end of the what some doctors call the “Golden Era”.  Drug reps would often come by with not only mass amounts of samples, but extravagant gifts like front row seats to Basketball and Hockey games, tickets to Operas, weekend getaways at golf resorts, and expensive wine.  This is a only a sample of some the “appreciation” gifts reps would bring to get docs to prescribe their product over the competition.

As reimbursements to doctors go down, the need to meet expenses stays or like most other things in life goes up.  Have you taken a minute to give this thought?  Many of my patients have heard this talk at one point in time from me.  I remember when I first got into practice with Dr. Clemente, I hadn’t tasted the business aspect of running a practice yet.  I just wanted to be a surgeon and start making a living.  We were cleaning out the office to make room for new charts and computers and I remember coming across some EOBs (Explanation of Benefits... Payment stubs from insurance companies for services performed) and they were dated from 10 years before.  What was amazing was the payment amount.  In 10 years... what has happened to the cost of living?  The cost of doing business?  The price of food, gas, college, etc etc etc.?  It’s gone up, almost double.  But what was amazing was that the payment for a procedure that we still perform today, (i.e. a bunionectomy) was now HALF of what it used to be 10 years before.  HALF!  So the cost of living is going up, but the reimbursement to the doctor has gone down.   For those of you who argue that the costs of health care have gone up, I argue politely that you do not have a firm understanding of the issues... more on this later (I promise to write an article of the health care debacle in detail).

The fact is that the money is in the middle.  The money is being siphoned to the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical companies.  They spend millions of dollars trying to “re-educate” doctors that their product is the panacea for health care and a healthier America, where really, the ultimate Rx for health is eating better, and moving more.

Health care, like most other things in this country is big business.  Not at the doctor level.  Doctors and patients are the core of health care.  They are the peak of the pyramid.  Big business health care is the institutional system.  Private insurance (for profit), Pharmaceutical companies, Hospitals, Medical Supply companies, Ancillary Medical Care industries (home health care, adult day health care, etc.)  These components consistently are taking a bigger chunk of your health care dollar.

Your doctor is getting less and less every year.  This is one of the reasons I decided to drop my participation wit Blue Cross this year, because of their unethical and un-American way of doing business.  I was no longer willing to participate in the extortionary ways of their business model.  Now that we are no longer contracted with insurance companies, we can practice how we like, really treat our patients with quality without being locked into a discounted rate that forces a practice to increase its volume (doctor’s without contracts with insurance companies still get paid by the insurance company, but at higher rates since they have not agreed to a contracted discount payment schedule).

So when I come across videos like the the one linked in this post, I feel good that at least the media is sending a worthwhile message (sometimes).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHXXTCc-IVg&feature=rec-fresh

I hope most of you think and learn about the issues when you are being bombarded by advertising for elections, or where to eat, or what to eat.  Think about what it costs for a 1 minute spot on TV for an ad, and the next time you see an ad for an anti-depressant, or a sleep aid, or a diet pill, ask yourself, where did the company get the money to pay for this ad?  Are they really that concerned about your ailment, or are they just pushing you their product?