Twenty steps to survive managed care.
The health care industry is in the midst of discounted, price-driven, managed care. Many older physicians, not wanting to practice in this environment, are opting for early retirement. Others sell their clinical practices to management companies or hospitals to avoid the economic reality of day-to-day financial management. Most of these private practices are losing money every year. However, there still are a large number of physicians who have not sold their practice. As capitation continues to grow, these physicians will experience severe cash flow problems unless their financial plight is addressed rapidly. If it is not, the resultant cash flow problems will cause accounts payable to grow. Twenty steps are outlined that a physician or group should take right away to maintain a healthy cash flow. These include: Instituting a nurse triage system, setting up an after-hours clinic, getting the co-pay at the time of service, implementing a patient satisfaction questionnaire, monitoring the capitation reports, and checking capitation lists.
Goldener
J
J
Pediatric Associates of Main Line, PA, USA. jgoldener@pol.net
D002204:Capitation Fee; D017047:Cost Sharing; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000639:trends; D018578:Hospital-Physician Relations; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000191:economics*; D020414:Risk Sharing, Financial / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States