Emergency Medicine Physicians and Medical Liability Reform

According to an article from Kaiser Health News, the number of emergency room visits rose by about ten percent, or 13 million visits, to more than 136 million visits in 2009. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates this to be the largest increase ever. One factor contributing to this increase has to do with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act passed in 1986. This act requires hospitals to provide emergency services to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay for medical services rendered. The law, in and of itself, has driven up the number of patients seeking out emergency rooms and thus the number of overcrowded emergency departments in the nation. Another concern for emergency physicians comes from the Affordable Care Act which will require hospitals to reduce their readmittance rates by coordinating care or be financially penalized. This means physicians will be pressured by hospitals not to admit patients who cannot pay because the hospital will not receive payment from those patients. On the other hand, physicians will also feel pressure from their own conscience, from the family members of patients unable to pay, and from the continual specter of lawsuits.

All of these factors have led some emergency room physicians to focus on a possible means to reduce the nation’s health care costs—medical liability reform which they believe will discourage defensive medicine practice. One of the issues being discussed at the annual American College of Emergency Physicians conference this week is how many emergency physicians would like reform that would include indemnification based on recognized guidelines, caps on non-economic damages, and medical courts where providers would be judged by their medical peers. One important piece of evidence against medical liability reform is a study showing the number of congestive heart failure patients discharged from the emergency department dropped by sixty-three percent between 2006 and 2010 likely due to an increase in concerns about medical malpractice litigation.

What are your thoughts regarding medical liability reform?

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Get to Know Fidelis Partners and Medestar!

Angela Stockford

Career:

• Angela is a Senior Search Consultant here at Fidelis Partners, and strives to match each candidate with the best opportunity for them. She most enjoys being able to help others make positive changes in their lives by fitting them with the right opportunity.

• Angela has been in the industry for five years, and has been a valued member of the Fidelis team for more than a year.

• Her greatest professional strengths are her ability to adapt to any situation, and her immense integrity. Angela’s adaptability and integrity has allowed her to considerably help those around her including clients and co-workers alike.

Personal:

Background Information:

• Angela grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in hospitality management from the University of North Texas.

In Her Free Time:

• In her free time, Angela most enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.

• She also enjoys baking and cooking, going for walks, shopping, and even interior decorating.

Interesting Things You Probably Didn’t Know:

• Angela greatly enjoys sociology, and is extremely observant.

• She feels as though she has had such a high success rate in this industry because of her observant nature and her ability to use her observations when interacting with clients and candidates.

Contact Angela For:

                -Permanent placement opportunities

Connect with Angela:

                -LinkedIN profile

                -Apply to jobs

                -Email Angela

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5 Best and Worst States to Practice Medicine

The Best States to Practice Medicine:                   The Worst States to Practice Medicine:

5.) Georgia                                                             5.) Rhode Island

4.) Texas                                                                4.) Connecticut

3.) Arkansas                                                          3.) New York

2.) Mississippi                                                        2.) Maryland

1.) Oklahoma                                                         1.) District of Columbia

          Based on four separate criteria, and with the help of “Physicians Practice,” we have compiled a list of the 5 best and worst states in the United States to practice medicine. The factors taken into consideration include the cost of living index, the tax burden per capita, medical board disciplinary actions, and physicians per 1,000 residents, or the amount of competition in that area of the country. The cost of living index is one of the most important factors for some physicians, and on this graph is scaled with zero being the lowest and 16 being the highest. The next factor taken into consideration is the tax burden per capita represented by thousands in the graphs below. For example, Mississippi’s tax burden is $2,678 represented on the graph as 2.678. The third criterion is the disciplinary actions taken by the medical board measured per 1,000 physicians—the lower the number the better it is for physicians. To illustrate, in Maryland, for every 1,000 physicians, there are 2.55 disciplinary actions taken against practicing physicians. Lastly, we took the level of competition into consideration, or the number of physicians present per 1,000 residents in that area. In Texas, for instance, there are just over 2 physicians for every 1,000 residents.   

          The best and worst states to practice in were determined by taking the average of scores of all four categories. For instance, Oklahoma has an average score of 4.8 across all categories, the lowest of all while the District of Columbia has the highest average at 7.67. They are as follows: 

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Get to Know us: Nick Rogers, Director of Recruiting

For this week's team member biography, we'd like to introduce you to Nick Rogers, Director of Recruiting at Medestar.

Nick Rogers

Career:

• As Director of Recruiting at Medestar, Nick not only maintains his relationships with his current providers, but he also continually searches for new providers looking for locum tenens work. Perhaps his most important role as Director of Recruiting is helping lead his team toward success and being a source for other recruiters to turn to when they have questions.

• Nick’s favorite part of his job is building relationships with his providers as well as his fellow co-workers. He also enjoys being able to help shape this company into a powerhouse by finding the right opportunity for all the providers he has the pleasure of speaking with.

• During Nick’s impressive career, he has been one of the top producers for Medestar since its inception, and reached the President’s club in 2010. He is also on track to place 50 new providers in 2011!

• Nick has many strengths, but perhaps his two greatest are his loyalty and his ability to build and maintain relationships.

Personal:

Background Information:

• Nick grew up in the Buckeye state, watching Ohio State University football.

•  He received his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from the College of William and Mary where he also played football.

His Free Time:

• In his free time, Nick enjoys working out (which he often does during lunch time) and playing sports. Currently he is on a softball team that plays a couple times a week.

• One of his favorite pass-times is spending time with his friends and family.

Interesting Things You Probably Didn’t Know:

• Nick got married in September!

• Nick is extremely organized - the clothes in his closet are even color coordinated.

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Nontraditional Treatment Approach for a Nontradtional Man

     As the news of Steve Jobs’ passing continues to be a trending topic worldwide, it also brings attention to his health issue.  The co-founder of Apple, Inc. was the visionary behind many technological devices we use daily: the personal computer, the iPhone, the iPad.  While Jobs created a larger than life Apple empire, he maintained a low profile concerning his fight against pancreatic cancer.  In 2003, he was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.  Known for his nontraditional style business, Jobs approached his cancer treatment similarly.  

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

     

     Jobs had a neuroendocrine tumor in his pancreas.  Neuroendocrine tumors are uncommon, with new cases occurring in no more than five people in every 100,000 each year.  In 2009, he received a liver transplant.  Research has shown that a liver transplant can prolong the life of those with his rare form of pancreatic cancer.  However, the research regarding this treatment is still being developed.  Patients who take this progressive approach to pancreatic cancer, risk many complications according to Simon Lo, director of endoscopy at Cedars-SinaiMedical Center in Los Angeles.  New medications were cleared in the U.S. this year to treat this aggressive cancer.

      

     What do you all think about Steve Jobs and his personal fight against cancer? Do you wish he would have shared more of his illness with the public, or do you think the revelation of Steve Jobs’ battle with cancer would have hurt the success of Apple, Inc.?

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How the Physician Shortage is Impacting Locum Tenen Physicians

Over the past few years, healthcare organizations such as

the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP), and the United States Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) are projecting a deficit of up to 159,000 physicians by the year 2020. This shortage, in part, seems to be linked to the Medicare funding cap implemented in 1997. That year, the federal government placed a cap on Medicare funding of hospital residency programs, and since then the number of United States trained physicians has only grown marginally. Marginal physician growth, however, has not stopped population growth or the population from aging, two factors which have significantly driven up the demand for physician services. Taking into consideration this shortage, healthcare facilities will begin to rely more heavily on non-traditional physicians, including locum tenens providers.

          Today, facilities typically use locum tenens providers for a variety of reasons, typically when gaps in the medical staff arise. Traditionally, healthcare facilities would use locum tenens physicians while employed physicians were sick, on vacation, or otherwise temporarily absent. Today, however, a survey revealed the most common reason to use locum tenens providers is while a search for a permanent physician is underway, illustrating how the physician shortage is directly impacting the demand for locum tenens physicians.

          According to a recent survey, facilities planning on incorporating a higher volume of locum tenens physicians may be in luck. The survey found around fourteen percent of physicians plan to work locum tenens in the future. Physicians of all ages work locum tenens, a majority of them, however, are senior doctors using locum tenens as a way to slow down or semi-retire. Significantly, according to the AMA Physician Master File, over one-third of working physicians today are over the age of fifty five. This means more and more physicians may embrace locum tenens in the future, thus benefitting facilities that may have trouble finding permanent physicians.

The use of locum tenens physicians is beneficial in many ways. For the locum tenens doctors, it is a way to focus more on patient care, rather than reimbursement or other administrative duties associated with employment. For the facilities, the use of locum tenens providers ensures a continuity of care for patients, as well as a continual revenue stream. Facilities can also use locum tenens providers as a way to prevent employed physician burnout by allowing their permanent staff increased flexibility or time off. As the physician shortage increases, effective healthcare facilities will need to embrace the strategic use of locum tenens physicians, and Medestar is here to help!     

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TO PROMOTE NATIONAL HEALTH IT WEEK, FIDELIS PARTNERS AND MEDESTAR LAUNCH iPAD 2 PROMOTION

Earlier this week, President Obama proclaimed the week of September 12 through September 17, 2011 to be National Health Information Technology (IT) Week. To show their support, Fidelis Partners and Medestar have launched a nationwide sweepstakes this week to promote the president’s proclamation of National Health IT Week. Fidelis Partners and Medestar represent physician and mid-level job opportunities nationwide, placing providers on a permanent or temporary basis. Now through December 11, 2011 healthcare providers can win an iPad 2 by simply entering the official Facebook sweepstakes at http://www.facebook.com/fidelismedestar. Fidelis Partners and Medestar hope to be an integral asset to this important change in the health care industry and believe the iPad 2 prize will supply healthcare professionals with a chance to advance their own information technology capabilities.

In his official statement, President Obama acknowledged how American economic advances have been fueled by technology and have led to an improvement in the lives of Americans. He continued by stating, “progress in our Nation's health care system is no different, and hinges on the work of hospitals, private practices, and information specialists as they modernize our health information systems.” The president strongly believes “this technology is critical to improving patient care, enabling coordination between providers and patients, reducing the risk of dangerous drug interactions, and helping patients access prevention and disease management services.”

President Obama urges Americans to learn more about the benefits of health information technologies. The presidential proclamation emphasized the growing importance of technology in the healthcare industry, stating “health information technology connects doctors and patients to more complete and accurate health records.” He also emphasized how “tools like electronic health records and electronic prescriptions help patients and providers make safer, smarter decisions about health care.” 

Fidelis Partners and Medestar stand behind this presidential proclamation and believe technological advances can and do greatly improve the healthcare industry not only in terms of patient care, but also by improving the quality and availability of information used by physicians in patient encounters. Fidelis Partners and Medestar believe technological advances allow medical providers to diagnose patients more quickly and accurately, enabling faster treatment plans than ever before. For some patients, early treatment can often be the difference between life and death, making technology an essential tool for the future of health care.

About Fidelis Partners and Medestar
The Fidelis Partners and Medestar family provides permanent and locum tenen recruitment services for hospitals and medical groups nationwide. Their expert consultants successfully recruit for pediatric and adult primary care providers, specialists, pediatric sub-specialists, as well as director level and midlevel providers.

The companies are located in Dallas, TX and Aliso Viejo, CA. For more information, please visit www.medestar.com or www.fidelimp.com.  

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