Wisdom. Applied.

Was the Cure Worse Than the Disease? Surprise Medical Billing and U.S. Anesthesia Partners v. UnitedHealthcare

Need a marketing consultant to help grow your ASC? You might want to check with your carriers first.

Laugh about it or cry about it, the bottom line is the same: they are cutting costs by moving all cases that can be moved out of the hospital out of the hospital. Where does that leave you?

Chalk up a victory for less care at higher prices. Hey, aren't those two of the Anti-Triple Aim?

Well the story as told by the Government is a familiar one: They allege that the events were payments to benefit Dr. Asfora and induce him to use Medtronic's SynchroMed ll intrathecal infusion pumps.

It was perhaps the funniest healthcare headline ever: “Zimmer Biomet to combine spine, dental businesses to form company called NewCo.”

The healthcare world was supposedly abuzz last week when the New England Journal of Medicine published (on Jan 2, 2020) the report of a study that shows that consolidation in the hospital industry doesn’t lead to higher patient satisfaction or to higher quality.

Strategic advantage is gained by being able to process information and take action faster than one's opponent.

How would your reorganize your medical practice, healthcare business, and relationships if you were paid only for successful outcomes, no matter how they are measured?

What is your favorite dessert, something that goes well with barbecue? Whether it's pie or vanilla ice cream (or both!), it's probably not 10 years in federal prison.

Here, courtesy of Tenet Healthcare and two terminated cardiologists is a lesson about firing physicians . . . and, when not to.

Over the years, I have dealt with many hospital CEOs that I thought were criminals. In fact, I have dealt with some who were indicted, and, in at least one case, a CEO who later became a long-term “guest” in the Gray Bar Hotel.

Big data and business decision-making, especially in your practice, are two very different things.

Let’s say you are the leader of a medical group. It could be a small group of a handful of physicians. Or, you could be the President and CEO of a 600 or 6,000 provider group. It does not make any difference.

Medical groups must understand the direction of the societal wind. You might like it. You might hate it. Either way, it is still windy.

In a move reminiscent of prohibition-era crime fighter Eliot Ness, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced a coordinated enforcement action against 345 alleged healthcare criminals, including over 100 physicians and other licensed (for now) healthcare professionals, in 51 judicial districts.

We used to joke about the name of Midway Hospital, an acute care hospital in L.A., saying that it was midway between life and death. An anesthesiologist, commenting on my theme that inpatient care is becoming outpatient care and that the center of outpatient care isn't the hospital but the freestanding facility, in his case the ASC, told me that I was missing an element in the analysis.

Another week, another hospital closes. Well, at least one. This is a popular topic because each additional hospital closure underscores the risk for physicians and medical groups that don’t spread risk. The lesson applies to both hospital-based and office-based physicians, although not necessarily equally.

It is a crime, a violation of antitrust law, to conspire to allocate a market, thus driving up the price. It is particularly egregious when the conspiracy involves the market for medical care for cancer treatment.

When I was a kid, I had a Gumby. (Did you have one, too?)

Many medical groups, certainly many hospital-based groups but, increasingly, even office-based groups, view themselves as simply providing a “service” for the hospital.

Hiring for skill is not even half the battle for your group – the price of admission.

In reality, the “CEO” never really owned his business. He was simply its caretaker. He just realized it a bit too late.

Recently, I saw an article in The Wall Street Journal about pandemic economics and work-life balance.

To succeed in business, you have to focus on sufficiently satisfying, that is, satisficing, the needs and expectations of your customers and on reminding them of that fact.