Predatory creatures are consistent, regardless of species.  The mighty shark expects it prey to be paralyzed with fear.  Punch it in the snout and it takes a big step backwards, backs away and moves on to easier targets.  The simple fact is that both sharks and plaintiff’s malpractice lawyers are bullies.  They pick on capable, well-intending doctors, encouraging patients to file lawsuit against someone that the patient would otherwise be thanking.   Patients know that their doctors didn’t cause them to be sick or injured, and most believe their doctors are doing their best to make them well, ease their suffering.  But if you give a trial lawyer a few minutes with them, the lawyer will turn the story around until it seems like the doctor was an insensitive, uncaring creep who was only there for the money.  (Talk about projecting!  They’re the ones who don’t care what damage they do to people, so long as they’re making a buck!) Continue Reading »

Tags: frivolous lawsuits, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Insurance, trial lawyers

Most of us who live and work in the Real World barely have time to read email, let alone think of the Internet as having any serious impact on us.  After all, that’s all just electronic, virtual reality.  We operate in the tangible, corporeal world, right?  Don’t be too sure about that.  Many aspects of a physician’s career are intangible.  The education, for example, is just represented by that piece of paper on the wall.  The education itself is an intangible.  One’s reputation is another essential, intangible asset.  But with the Internet, your reputation (far more so than an education) has the potential to be in a constant state of flux.  Even if you have 20 people saying how wonderful you are for every one person who claims you’re a quack, it’s still that one bad comment that is going to get the attention and ruin your reputation.  It really should be expected, because the content patient doesn’t make it their life’s work to discredit you with their allegations.  Remember, an allegation is all it takes.  People think “Where there’s smoke, there must be some sort of fire,” so they move on a physician who may be nowhere near as highly experienced as you, but who also hasn’t had the chance to rack up any bad feedback yet.  So you get the bad rep, and the new guy gets the patient. Continue Reading »

Tags: Doctor, Malpractice, Medical, Negative Reviews, Online Reputation, Online Review, Patient Review, Physician, Reputation Management

This past year has seen a tremendous number of changes in the health care industry.  The entire health care reform debate raged and ranted, whined and squeaked and finally got signed.  There have been strings of action and inaction, push and pull, Congress extending physicians’ payments for a month at a time, (when they could as easily have applied a six-month bandage) as the administrative offices played catch-up with the paperwork.   But last month, that all stopped.  The administrative agency declared that they would NOT pay on the presumption that Congress would fund it retroactively… and since then, Congress has done nothing to resolve the problem.  That’s right.  Doctors have simply been working for 21% less, trusting our government to make it right eventually.  But this time, it isn’t happening.

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Tags: 21%, access to care, health care, Insurance, Medicare, payment

It’s said that every cloud has a silver lining.  The “reform” of health care is a far cry from the tort reform this country so desperately needs, but there is an up-side.  Abusive insurance company practices are about to come to a grinding halt.  In this one sense, the practice of medicine will return to its rightful place, between the doctor and the patient.

A good part of what precipitated the health care reform bill was just such abuses.  People who were canceled for pre-existing conditions — even when those conditions didn’t represent a major cost to the health insurance company — finally have retribution.  Starting in September, rescissions will no longer be allowed, except in the case of fraud.  And if an insurer wants to claim fraud, it must provide the affected customer at least 30 days’ notice for time to appeal.  Continue Reading »

Tags: health care reform, medical insurance, Medicare, rescission, storm

It didn’t take long.  The health insurance companies didn’t wait before looking for ways to cut corners at the patient and doctors’ expense.  Remember the campaign promises that the government wouldn’t tell you what physician you can see… and that’s true.  The government won’t be doing it.  Your insurance company will.

The first round?  Lower premiums are being offered to companies that will accept specific physicians — and only those doctors — for their employees’ care.  Been with your family doctor for a decade or more, know and trust him?  Too bad.  Unless he’s on that little list, you’ll be dealing with your choice of those doctors the insurance company has approved.  By what criteria? It doesn’t take much to figure out we’re talking about the least-common-denominator; Whichever physicians are willing to work for whatever peanuts the insurance company is willing to pay.  Continue Reading »

Tags: Aetna, cigna, Haro Bicycle, lower premiums, Obama, obamacare, Peter Skoda, UnitedHealth, wellpoint

That’s the dream of many people these days, professionals, their patients and clients alike — a world without frivolous lawsuits.   A world where trial lawyers don’t exaggerate or fabricate cases in order to harass good people out of their hard-earned money.  A world where a dedicated professional who is doing the right thing to the best of his abilities and in accordance with standard professional practices is not a target for some lazy opportunist.  What would such a world be like?  Let’s have a look:

Your doctor would spend his time and energy with you, on you and your needs ENTIRELY, instead of covering his backside, dotting I’s and crossing T’s.   What’s more, he’ll be better rested, have a more pleasant bedside manner, because he won’t be up half the night worrying about when the next ingrate is going to try to take his life’s work away from him on a jackpot lawsuit. Continue Reading »

Tags: Dr. Jeffrey Segal, frivolous lawsuits, happy patients, health care reform, medical malpractice law