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It’s time to help us identify the Top Docs in Richmond. Our annual survey is underway, and winners will be announced in our April issue. The survey is open to select health professionals in the metro area, who are asked which local care providers in various specialty areas they would visit themselves or recommend to family members. Email tharong [at] richmag [dot] com if you are a local medical professional who would like to participate in the survey.
The voting is online and continues through Jan. 30. Invitations were mailed to 3,700 licensed professionals and sent via email. Check out last year's winners.
We also asked for help in identifying candidates for several special honors categories: Best Physician's Assistant; Best Medical Imaging Tech; Best Occupational, Physical, Respiratory or Speech Therapist; Top Administrator; Best Pharmacy Tech; and Volunteer of the Year.
The survey is also a chance for participants to vent frustrations regarding hindrances they may face in their practice. Here’s a sampling of what’s been shared so far:
- The doctor/patient relationship is severely hampered by third-party payers (nonpayers, actually) and record-keeping requirements.
- Helping those who are under- or uninsured find coverage/help.
- Rising regulatory standards impeding efficiency, in the face of declining reimbursement.
- Health care is changing almost daily, and keeping up with the changes while trying to provide the best care for patients is very challenging.
- Reaching people in more rural communities! We have several patients that drive great distances to receive care here. Telemedicine is changing things for the better for many people who do not have resources nearby, and we are planning to implement telemedicine services this year.
- The greatest challenge faced by our practice is the large volume of under- and uninsured patients and finding resources and specialists to refer to. Also, transportation to daily treatments for many people is a huge challenge.
- The difficulty in managing the increasing stack of demands on the time of primary care physicians while working to spend the time with patients that it takes to develop therapeutic relationships. Each agency, insurer or healthcare system adds a few items each year to improve health care. Each taken alone has some merit. None are ever removed. Over time it's like having a dump-truck-load full of good ideas dumped on you. Each one is good, but the load will still kill you.
- The amount of paperwork and prior authorizations generated between outpatient visits is staggering. But an emerging threat is the idea of pay per performance. While it often sounds good, most measures of performance will essentially penalize providers who care for disadvantaged patients.
- I believe one of the greatest challenges facing ER medicine is staffing and burnout. Due to the long work hours and the fact that most clinicians bring their work home with them, burnout seems to be a common theme for ER providers.
- Time. Patients and families want and often need time, while institutions demand "efficiency," i.e., more patient contacts per day plus more time with data entry, driving physicians away from complex patients who require more time to interview, make care plans for, counsel and especially spend any non-face-to-face time on.
CAPSULES
A roundup of the week’s health and medicine news
- A free seminar on an implantable treatment for obstructive sleep apnea will be offered at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, at the VCU Health Neuroscience, Orthopaedic and Wellness Center at Short Pump Town Center. The session will be presented by otolaryngologist Ryan Nord. Online registration is encouraged. 804-628-0041.
- A new study will involve a pilot program at a Richmond hospice that will allow participants to receive both palliative care through hospice and curative services from their own doctors, according to a release. The program is at Capital Caring, and the three-year study is through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare recipients are barred under current guidelines from receiving curative services if they are receiving hospice services. Click here for information or to enroll, or call 800‐869‐2136.
- A joint thoracic surgery practice has been created at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital by Bon Secours and VCU Health. The practice includes Anthony Cassano, chair of VCU Health’s division of cardiothoracic surgery; Robert Ferguson of Bon Secours; Bon Secours Nurse Practitioner Jane Maiden; and VCU’s Patricia Nicolato and Rachit Shah. 804-287-7929.
- Henrico Doctors’ Hospital has earned top honors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare program. It earned five stars for excellence in patient cares and outcomes, according to a release.
