One of the shocking and sobering aspects of social media is the vast amount of contemporaneous value judging now pouring forth from those small devices. Electronically empowered consumers rate everything. It's just part of the perceived fun of being connected. Sites such as Yelp have become a major source of consumer information for this generation, and the doctor's office is no longer immune.
We physicians are not used to such immediate and frank feedback. If you think this does not apply to you just ask your teenager what is being said about you online. But being aware of this type of immediate, empassioned, no holds-barred feedback has it's advantages. In the past the only feedback we heard mostly was negative. A patient was angry, or frustrated, or embarrassed beyond tolerance, and rather than simply walk away, a complaint was filed. Complements were rare and unexpected. These days, however, passionate analysis is just as often positive given how easy it is to offer. Also, having my clinic actively involved and overtly receptive to being "Yelped" is in itself a badge of fluence in todays wired society. This generation expects the opportunity to give this feedback, and access to such feedback is often a selling point to new patients. And who are we kidding-it is happening whether we participate or not.
The curmudgeon in me sees problems. Such electronic feedback only comes from a specific population-those young at heart with nimble thumbs. Sometimes expectations from this crowd are unrealistic and immature, and may lack objectivity. After all, medical interactions are often complex and difficult to fairly value. Just because we have to deliver some degree of bad news should not result in us being panned. Also, these brief electronic comments are completely one sided. HIPAA laws prevent any counterpoint or counter complaint no matter how justified. I've often dreamed of a website listing those difficult and demanding patients. Perhaps a flashed warning on the smart phone when one of "those" trys to enter the office. Now there's an app for us old guys!
Realistically our entrance into this sphere of consumer feedback has already begun, and inevitably will proceed at an ever increasing pace. There is no point in resisting, so we should join in. Rather than becoming overly sensitive and defensive, let's consider it an opportunity to learn and improve. Hopefully the grace we extend to our patients will flow back in our direction.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Dr. Fredericks Second Opinion: Why are we changing our name
Dr. Fredericks Second Opinion: Why are we changing our name: "Many of you probably noticed we are changing our name from South Austin Family Practice Clinic (SAFPC) to Premier Family Physicians (PFP). Y..."
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Why are we changing our name
Many of you probably noticed we are changing our name from South Austin Family Practice Clinic (SAFPC) to Premier Family Physicians (PFP). You may have also noticed we are growing, and now have a clinic in Bee Cave (Premier Family Physicians @BeeCave), and have associated with Dr. Mark Dawson in Oak Hill.
Here's the scoop. The massive push of the federal government into healthcare with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also perjoritavely labeled Obamacare by some, is a game changer for physicians. Primary care doctors like us have been thrust to the front of the line and made to feel important again. There are numerous studies now that show that communities that are populated by primary care doctors have lower overall healthcare costs and better quality care than those dominated by specialists. And so the ACA has within it built in incentives for primary care doctors to lead the way, to use computers, to collaberate with other doctors in a way that they rarely have in the past. But only for those doctors who work as a team using technology and teamwork to "manage" a larger population of patients. In fact, small group practices are likely doomed under the ACA. They can't afford the costly infrastructure of computer systems, software, and management to be able to provide such highly integrated and collaberative care. The ACA actually has pointed disincentives for those small practice doctors who resist-there are financial penalties ,for instance, starting in 2012 for those doctors who fail to use electronic prescriptions. You can't do that without being electronified, which is often too expensive and daunting a changeover for many small and solo practices.
So, our options at SAFPC were to be bought by a local hospital, be absorbed by a larger multispeciality group, or grow ourselves into an organization with adequate gravitas. Or wither and die. We debated all those, really did not like that last one, so decided to grow. As we began to plan our business strategy and talk with our colleagues in town, it became apparent that what we were building had appeal amongst lots of other small and solo doctors in the area. We've added two of the best (Dr. David Gabriel and Dr. Mark Dawson), and are in serious discussions with many more. We are not sure how big Premier Family Physicians will get. We intend and are committed to creating an organization with a small practice feel: where patients still get personalized care from one doctor; where we are easy to find and access-by email for instance, and perhaps later with other bidirectional social media like Facebook; where our doctors have time to manage the minutia, and are not scrambling to see enough patients to keep the lights on.
This Facebook business page is intended to keep you informed of our progress. We'll post informational items, and perhaps some videos of our providers. We will try not to waste your time or be too narcissistic. We hope you'll follow along!
John K. Frederick, MD
PFP@SouthAustin
Here's the scoop. The massive push of the federal government into healthcare with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also perjoritavely labeled Obamacare by some, is a game changer for physicians. Primary care doctors like us have been thrust to the front of the line and made to feel important again. There are numerous studies now that show that communities that are populated by primary care doctors have lower overall healthcare costs and better quality care than those dominated by specialists. And so the ACA has within it built in incentives for primary care doctors to lead the way, to use computers, to collaberate with other doctors in a way that they rarely have in the past. But only for those doctors who work as a team using technology and teamwork to "manage" a larger population of patients. In fact, small group practices are likely doomed under the ACA. They can't afford the costly infrastructure of computer systems, software, and management to be able to provide such highly integrated and collaberative care. The ACA actually has pointed disincentives for those small practice doctors who resist-there are financial penalties ,for instance, starting in 2012 for those doctors who fail to use electronic prescriptions. You can't do that without being electronified, which is often too expensive and daunting a changeover for many small and solo practices.
So, our options at SAFPC were to be bought by a local hospital, be absorbed by a larger multispeciality group, or grow ourselves into an organization with adequate gravitas. Or wither and die. We debated all those, really did not like that last one, so decided to grow. As we began to plan our business strategy and talk with our colleagues in town, it became apparent that what we were building had appeal amongst lots of other small and solo doctors in the area. We've added two of the best (Dr. David Gabriel and Dr. Mark Dawson), and are in serious discussions with many more. We are not sure how big Premier Family Physicians will get. We intend and are committed to creating an organization with a small practice feel: where patients still get personalized care from one doctor; where we are easy to find and access-by email for instance, and perhaps later with other bidirectional social media like Facebook; where our doctors have time to manage the minutia, and are not scrambling to see enough patients to keep the lights on.
This Facebook business page is intended to keep you informed of our progress. We'll post informational items, and perhaps some videos of our providers. We will try not to waste your time or be too narcissistic. We hope you'll follow along!
John K. Frederick, MD
PFP@SouthAustin
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