Week 19: 2011-08-12
This week I was thinking about all the rules with which physicians must comply. Here’s a few off the top of my head:
Be licensed by state
Completely annual continuing education requirements according to license and specialty board requirements.
Hold a DEA license for controlled drug dispensing
Purchase malpractice insurance (for participation in most insurance plans)
Keep credentials up to date for each position, insurance, state, and board
Provide patients with HIPPA information
Use online prescribing this year or face a cut in Medicare payment in 2012
Begin using an EHR soon or face further Medicare cuts
Attest to lack of drug use, alcohol abuse, or criminal behavior
Pay child support or risk losing one’s medical license (a good thing?)
Comply with multiple chart audits
Now the question: do doctors seem scared by the medical establishment?
Comments, questions, and suggestions are all appreciated. Submit your response in the block below.
– Doc Cindy
You can add upcoming compliance with meaningful use and Patient Centered Medical Home (soon to be mandatory but for now we are getting some monies for getting in early – major pain).
I am a family doc in a small private practice (4 of us) and with all of the compliance issues and red-tape/hoops to jump through, I feel there is less and less time and compensation to treat patients.
Am I scared /intimidated by the establishment? Not at all. Frustrated? Absolutely. The rules are there for a good reason to protect and improve care for patients, but I feel for those of us already practicing good medicine, many may well quit rather than have to comply, which leaves patients with less options/fewer providers.