In our lives we are always given challenges. Those challenges are typically what can make or break us. Just over a year ago I was challenged when my job and department was eliminated due to a “business decision.” That challenge brought me here to join the Toledo Clinic. A private practice, for profit business. Having worked for not-for-profits for my entire career I was flat out scared. Not a word I use on a regular basis as I’ve always believed in the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt “we have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” That fear was based on the unknown. Throughout my medical training private practice physicians were seemingly looked down upon as the power of hospital systems is demonstrated as the big machine that now moves medicine. Now, reflecting back on this time I can clearly see that this thought is and was completely wrong.
First, let’s be clear, any business needs to make money to stay in business. As a shareholder physician with the Toledo Clinic my practice is a part of the physician group and it is my responsibility to those partners to be profitable for all of us. The way I went about building this practice was on me with support of the group and with purpose. A purpose that I’ve held my entire career in practice, but one that I now have the most control over. Healthcare isn’t cheap. We all know this as we look at our pay stubs and see how much our contribution is and with a deductible, typically measured in thousands of dollars. As a father, husband and primary breadwinner for my family I value your time and health care dollars. I work diligently to stay on time for my patients so your visit takes as little time away from your schedule as possible. On top of that I do many things to make your visit as affordable as possible, but how can we do that?
Medical fraud is equal if you charge too much or charge too little for care so the rates for office visits are set by Medicare and negotiated differently for each insurance. Understanding that those cannot be changed, we do our best to appropriately diagnose you the FIRST time you come in and set you up with a treatment path that SHOULD be successful. Being frank, we typically do a pretty good job at that, but sometimes things happen or treatments don’t work and that’s when we bring you back to be rechecked or take a different approach. By working hard on your first visit it saves you money and time by not having to come back to the doctor’s office over and over again.
Another way we save you money is working with our industry partners to get the best products at the best price. Being a small business, it is difficult to negotiate with bigger multimillion dollar companies, but we have found a way to do that. One example of this is partnering with a group call OrthoForum to get better pricing on things like injectables. I was shocked to see when one of my patients brought in their bill from a hospital system and they were charged over $3000 for something we are able to procure for under $500. This has pushed me to work diligently to always find the most cost-effective way to deliver high quality care and pass the cost savings onto my patients.
Finally, this practice, my practice is a small local business within a slightly larger local corporation. We only have two employees, including myself and work with the amazing support structure provided within our larger group. The Toledo Clinic is a Toledo physician owned and operated business. Unlike others our entire leadership committee still practices medicine on a daily basis. We all work diligently to provide you the best services at the most affordable costs.