The Physician’s Challenge

You have probably noticed how many more patients are waiting when you go to the doctor.

Why do we have to wait an hour or more past our appointment time to see the doctor?

There are many reasons. Here are two you may not have considered:

1. There is a growing mountain of documentation physicians and their staffs are required to complete for a patient’s “medical record” just to get paid and to avoid insurance “claw backs” and/or other penalties from the ever increasing number of government and insurance audits; and

2. Reimbursements have been cut dramatically by Medicare and insurance companies and the growing number of uninsured and Medicaid patients reduce practice revenue even more. As a result, physicians must see more patients each day to cover their overhead costs.

To maintain their required credentials and licensure and generate sufficient revenue to support their office, staff and family, physicians are working more hours than ever before, often earning much less than their predecessors at much greater risk.

So what can a patient do?

Certainly asking your doctor about your condition makes sense. It also makes sense to do as much research as you can on as many “legitimate” websites as possible. These include government sites, hospital sites and other medical information web sites that are not specifically financed or supported by big pharma or other trade group.

It also makes sense to research potential non-pharma and non-surgical options, especially when the condition or injury is for soft tissue injuries and/or joint problems. Many new and established medical companies have recently entered the regenerative medicine market.

Often improperly referred to as “stem cell” therapy, the regenerative medicine industry is full of both credible and illegitimate companies and practitioners. Stem cell treatments are an option, but the FDA has established specific limitations and guidelines on what companies and physicians can say about their biologics products, treatments and the related outcomes.

Unfortunately, many of these companies and providers have disregarded these regulations. Some that have broken the rules have been caught, warned and/or disciplined. Other companies have not been caught. Patients and providers should always ask for details about the company manufacturing and dispensing regenerative products. A list of these questions are below.

In spite of these concerns, new regenerative medicine products are likely the future of medicine. The opportunity to improve and in some cases fully restore the function and use of a joint without surgery or prescription pain medications is a goal that should be shared by all, including big pharma. As has been the case with other emerging technologies, sooner or later, regulation enforcement will improve, prices will drop and the bad players will eventually exit. It will be interesting to see how big pharma responds when the day comes that patients can be treated for a multitude of conditions with a single, affordable non pharmacologic injection and no longer require long term prescription maintenance medications.