Journal of the American Dental Association [Letter to the Editor]

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

ADA Image Tarnished?

[By Darrell K. Pruitt; DDSpruitt]

Dear Editor,  

This is a sincere letter which I am sure you will agree should be published in the October 2009 edition of the JADA. Today is July 19, 2009. I am allowing for the six weeks minimum time it requires for letters to appear in print following their selection for publication. It will be posted on the Internet immediately. In spite of this, I trust you will eventually agree to publish it in spite of your archaic rules. Otherwise, by November, history could show that the editor of the JADA arguably denied representation of dental patients’ interests at a most critical time in the history of the profession. That would be regrettable for your own professional reputation as well as for the JADA’s. As an ADA member, if my concerns are ignored, I will hold you publicly accountable for an explanation for a long time.

Public Laundry

From now on, we will agree to wash our laundry in public because otherwise it doesn’t always come clean. You can call the pressure I bring unprofessional if you want, but following the ADA News’ public exhibition of their shoddy ethics this week, it would be foolish to use my methods as an excuse to deny my access to membership. As I am certain you are aware, there were three revisions of “ADA/idm to phase out service” on ADA News Online (7/10, 7/13 and 7/16). I not only welcome a wide-open public discussion about ethics in journalism with representatives of the JADA, but I encourage it. We both know that the ADA needs clean laundry now more than ever before in its history.

ADA Business Enterprises, Inc.

For members who haven’t heard, the 2 ½ year old joint venture of our ADA Business Enterprises, Inc. (ADABEI) with Intelligent Dental Marketing – a Utah-based private business – fell apart in late spring of this year. Months later, our ADA leaders are still less than transparent with membership about what went wrong. I’ve been in business long enough to know that if mistakes by employees are not revealed and discussed, they are bound to happen again and again. And, it’s not like the leaders of the ADA were not warned. They just didn’t take heed. By late 2007, many knowledgeable people involved in the dental industry easily recognized the faults in the partnership between our non-profit professional organization and a for-profit Utah advertising company. In hindsight, anyone can see that ADA/IDM’s slogan, “Image is everything,” clearly betrays an attitude inconsistent with both the mission of the ADA and the Hippocratic Oath. Nevertheless, even the spirit of the slogan was regretfully adopted by the leaders of the ADA’s Business Enterprises, Inc. Now it is the image of the entire ADA that is suffering the damage.

ADABEI

I personally began questioning the accountability of the tricky ADA/IDM business model over two years ago when the profits from ADABEI had officials excited about avoiding the need to raise membership dues last year. Not unexpectedly, in the atmosphere of euphoria, nobody in Chicago wanted to acknowledge the concerns of a handful of alert members. We were cast aside as troublemakers. So how critical is the risk? With massive, unprecedented health care legislation imminent, this is the worst time imaginable for our stoic, image-conscious officers to lead us to nation-wide embarrassment.

Following the Money

The surrender to such temptations for leaders of non-profit organizations is not unprecedented. Do you know why the dues for the American Association of Retired People (AARP) have been kept so low? Not unlike the ADA, the non-profit AARP reaps profits from insurance policies and other products that its leaders sell to membership – even using misleading ads in AARP dues-supported publications. However, unlike dues money, vendor “kickbacks” don’t depend on accountability to members. A few years ago, the profits derived from agreements with vendors predictably became the lifeblood for AARP’s self-perpetuating bureaucracy – eventually influencing their lobbying efforts. Since non-profits like the AARP and the ADA are traditionally respected by lawmakers who like huge campaign donations, a non-profit entity’s lobbyists can be tempted to quietly represent vendors’ interests at members’ expense. Sometimes they get caught.

Lost Confidence

Almost a year ago, the AARP lost valuable member confidence when the organization was forced to suspend sales of “limited benefit” health plans backed by UnitedHealth Group (of Ingenix fame). Sen. Chuck Grassley said the plans which leave policyholders vulnerable to tens of thousands of dollars in costs were sold by the AARP to naïve and trusting members using misleading marketing tricks – not unlike those used in the ADA’s promotion of ADA/IDM. Sen. Grassley sent a detailed letter to CEO Bill Novelli demanding answers to questions about health insurance plans promoted to over a million dues-paying AARP members. Grassley told USA Today reporter Julie Appleby that “Insurance is supposed to limit your exposure to the potentially high cost of a serious illness and these plans do the opposite.” (Nov 7 2008).

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-11-07-aarp-insurance_N.htm

Is AARP-level accountability as good as it gets?

I say no. Attention ADA members – It is my opinion that our leaders are losing the control of our professional organization. The recent failure of ADA/IDM isn’t the first glaring sign of trouble in Headquarters. Over a year ago, the executive director, Dr. James Bramson, was suddenly fired with no explanation. In fact, then President Dr. Mark Feldman commanded that the reasons for the firing will not be disclosed. Obediently, ADA leaders have so far maintained firm control of the top secret information which if released could somehow endanger dental patients (?). Because Bramson’s severance pay came from my dues and not out of Dr. Feldman’s pocket, I think I deserve to know more details. Otherwise, this mistake could happen again and again.

The ADA/IDM disaster is also not the only ADABEI embarrassment I see on the horizon. It is my opinion that CareCredit is also showing signs of silent desperation. On July 9, the officials of the wholly-owned ADA subsidiary purchased an ad on dentalblogs.com titled “Press Release: CareCredit Adds 24-Month, No-Interest [sic] Payment Plan” (no byline).

http://www.dentalblogs.com/archives/administrator/press-release-carecredit-adds-24-month-no-interst-payment-plan/

Even though I approve of the benevolence in the idea of extending credit to those with worsening dental problems – especially during these hard financial times for patients – the anonymous CareCredit (ADA) representative who posted the ad failed to respond to my timely and important question: “If the Red Flags Rule is not delayed for the third time in three weeks, how will it affect those who offer Care Credit?”

Assessment

Nor did he or she respond to my follow up response on July 13. “On July 9 at 4:54 pm, I submitted a sincere question concerning how the Red Flags Rules will affect ADA members who sign up for CareCredit. Instead of posting it with the promise of an answer, you regretfully chose to censor an ADA member. Today, July 13, I have a second and third question: Why did you ignore my first one and who is your boss?”

Conclusion

So far, I’m still waiting for responses to all three questions. I trust you will treat my concerns with more respect, Editor.

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated. Tell us what you think. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, be sure to subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Channel Surfing
Have you visited our other topic channels? Established to facilitate idea exchange and link our community together, the value of these topics is dependent upon your input. Please take a minute to visit. And, to prevent that annoying spam, we ask that you register. 

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com 

Get our Widget: Get this widget!

Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/prod.aspx?prod_id=23759

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com

Health Administration Terms: www.HealthDictionarySeries.com

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com

Subscribe Now: Did you like this Medical Executive-Post, or find it helpful, interesting and informative? Want to get the latest ME-Ps delivered to your email box each morning? Just subscribe using the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Security is assured.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Sponsors Welcomed

And, credible sponsors and like-minded advertisers are always welcomed.

Link: https://healthcarefinancials.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/advertise

Filed under: Breaking News, Career Development, Ethics, Health Insurance, Managed Care, Op-Editorials, Pruitt's Platform, Research & Development | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

On Continuity of Medical Care and HIMSS

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Join Our Mailing List

Considering Pay-for-Retention [P-4-R]

By Darrell K Pruitt; DDSpruitt5

Here is the question on lots of minds these days; how can we change the way medical providers are paid so they are both incentivized and adequately compensated to provide consistent, high-quality, patient-centered medical homes?

My Novel Idea

Here is a solid, common sense idea; increase providers’ pay gradually according to how long the doctors retain patients – who are free to choose any doctor they wish.  Consistency is the mortar of a medical home [i.e., pay-4-retention]. 

An Ounce of Prevention 

If prevention, which predates eHRs by thousands of years, is more than just a modern buzzword, the nation can still shave much more expense from health care by promoting continual, personalized care for consumers than from digital health records alone – void of prevention incentives. Who in the audience still cannot understand that concept? Think of it this way. How do business leaders in the land of the free retain the best employees? They pay bonuses. Even waiters get tips to encourage interest in providing service consumers will return for. What do US physicians get?  Guaranteed cuts in their Medicaid payments over the next decade. Physicians no longer encourage their children to become doctors. Surprised? Scared? 

Consumers Should Rule 

In place of consumers ruling their healthcare in the US, well-positioned, giant stakeholders have persuaded lawmakers to offer physicians bonus money (that will later be taken away), not for curing patients, but for using digital records “in a meaningful manner.” It’s called “Mark and Michael Leavitts’ Clicking for Cash.”  Since the rules are made up along the way, they change like the weather. That is why the larger and more progressive medical facilities pay bonuses to retain their best “Coders” and other informatics specialists who keep up with the current Ingenix-styled games in order to maximize profits. It is my opinion that health care IT’s complexity works well with the economic stimulus plan to improve employment in the nation. Entrepreneurial stakeholders will continue to be movie-star popular right up until the complete collapse of Medicare.  Then they’ll be impossible to find www.HealthDictionarySeries.com

HIMSS 

Have you ever heard of HIMSS?

“The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry’s membership organization exclusively focused on providing leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.”

– From the HIMSS Web site.

HIMSS Annual Meeting 

A week ago, HIMSS convened its annual convention in Chicago. The keynote speakers for the four day event were actor Dennis Quaid; followed by the Chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, George C. Halvorson; then the economist and former Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, and finally; Jerry M. Linenger, MD, MSSM, MPH, PhD, Captain, Medical Corps, USN (Ret.), NASA Astronaut, and Space Analyst, NBC News. As one can tell, healthcare IT has lots of momentum. In fact, Dave Roberts, the HIMSS vice president for government relations confidently told Bob Brewin on NextGov.com

“The e-records initiative is an entitlement program like Social Security.” 

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090406_1509.phpdhimc-book9

Another Entitlement Program – Entitlement for Whom

In Regina Herzlinger’s 2007 book “Who Killed Health Care?” the Harvard School of Business professor argues that entitled stakeholders, including a few ambitious members of HIMSS, are destroying health care in the name of reform. In the first half of her 260 page book, she spells out entrepreneurial malfeasance in simple well-annotated terms. In the last half, she describes why Consumer-Driven Health Care [CDHC] makes sense to her. Professor Herzlinger does not specifically mention the words “medical home” in her book, yet she emphasizes the importance of continuity of care. To promote continuity, she suggests that managed care insurance policies be extended to three years duration and longer.  Although she also does not mention dentistry, it is obvious to me that since chronic illnesses like diabetes are exacerbated by poor oral health, continuity of care in dentistry is of special importance.  It occasionally takes years to improve some patients’ oral health care. And sometimes we fail.

Assessment 

If these assumptions about continuity of care are accurate, it follows that the physical and economic health of the nation depends on long-term medical insurance contracts with employers and freedom-of-choice in providers. So is prevention worth holding ourselves accountable to consumers for once? Maybe it is just me, but I think unprecedented truth in healthcare will soon emerge regardless of stakeholders’ needs for confusion and obscurity.  It is called consumerism.  And it goes hand-in-hand with the Hippocratic Oath, the free-market and common sense.

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

Health Dictionary Series: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/product/9780826105752

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Product DetailsProduct DetailsProduct Details

Product Details  Product Details

Product DetailsProduct Details

Filed under: Career Development, Ethics, Health Insurance, Information Technology, Managed Care, Op-Editorials, Practice Management, Quality Initiatives, Recommended Books, Research & Development | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Collaborative Dental Health 2.0 [Upcoming Three Part Series]

Posted on February 19, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Hippocratic Dental Consumerism

By Darrell K. Pruitt; DDSpruitt

Even before the downturn in the economy sent dentists scrambling for new sources of patients, these were already times of revolutionary changes in the marketing of dental care. To those who are alert, the Internet-enabled chaos signals a rare opportunity if one sides with consumers rather than tradition. It takes confidence to welcome transparency, and it looks increasingly bad when dentists resist accountability in traditional ways – like suing. Yelp; because of a bad review that was posted on the patient referral site. That is the second stupidest thing one can do. Being perhaps a geeky student of the Internet, and sort of nosey, I have been tracking the popularity of dentists’ comments on a few Internet venues for quite a while, because of my own curiosity.  I also get ornery enjoyment from reporting to my friends my opinion of what is really happening in my profession that nobody else talks about. My hobby could be called fuzzy data mining based on a platform of precise subjectivity. 

For more intricate and dependable real-time information, I choose the surveys reported on The Wealthy Dentist Blog, hosted by Jim Du Molin. They are the best around.

Link: http://www.thewealthydentist.com/blog/

American Dental Association

The ADA also provides nice, formal presentations of even more accurate information, but it is often dated and not ground-level relevant like Du Molin’s studies. Until the Internet came along, gathering useful information about dentists’ prevailing attitudes outside one’s professional circle was virtually impossible, and dentists are well aware that even within these circles, colleagues’ opinions at dental meetings are sometimes intentionally misleading – perhaps mine are less reliable as well at social gatherings. I never talk this frankly in real life. 

Dental Information Silos 

Talk about information silos!  No less that 85% of dentists in the nation are owners of solo private practices (ADA News), and only 2% have bubbly personalities (my guess). Dentists’ quiet isolation, which is arguably favored by what I would guess would be around 85% of dentists in the nation, is a unique characteristic in modern healthcare that is part of a unique labor-intensive art – performed to exacting tolerances in an unpredictable environment – intricate work that most consumers know little about. Yet the ultra-personal accountability welcomed by almost all solo dentists is the way even neighborhood physicians once practiced their trade for thousands of years before modern stakeholders became involved. 

Hippocratic Oath

Is working alone with one’s chosen staff the most efficient way to provide dental care?  No way.  But for me personally, maintaining complete control of the care I provide from start-to-finish for those who depend on me is safer for them and a better business model for me than any alternative I have seen yet.  In my opinion, there is no room in the Hippocratic Oath for less than 100% devotion to the patients’ interests. More than two thousand years later, it is called consumerism, and it is 180 degrees counter to stakeholders’ interests, preferred provider lists and universal healthcare. And, it probably comes as no surprise that last October I observed that the most popular comments that were posted shifted from news about the benefits of high-tech inventions in dentistry to advice for how to survive in a tough economy. The whole nation is concerned about finances, and getting one’s teeth cleaned is commonly sacrificed when things get tough. Don’t even mention implants and crowns.

2009 Recession 

At the risk of sounding ostentatious as well as pedantic, I will offer that (for the time being) my practice is not suffering from a downturn that many of my local colleagues are enduring. In fact, I am actually busier than I was this time last year – and I made more profit in 2008 than ever before in 26 years of practice. I am also discovering that patients I lost long ago are returning now that they no longer have provider lists. They are also finding that my prices are not so high after all (in fairness, I should add that it has been longer than usual since I have raised fees – except for full gold restorations, of course). Since I am not in the business of selling advice, I am not afraid to also admit that my practice still experienced a couple of slow periods in the late fall – directly attributable to the initial shock of the downturn.  But I cannot say that the slowdown was any worse than other times in the last few years, and it certainly hasn’t been as bad as what dentists in Michigan must endure. My sympathy and best wishes go out to my colleagues up north. Things could all turn for the worse for me tomorrow, but for right now, I’m somewhere between surviving and thriving, for what that is worth; nothing spectacular, but solid.

Three Part Series 

This posting, which I hope some readers find useful, will be a multi-part series. I haven’t worked everything out yet, and my outline is subject to change, but here is what I have in mind.

In Part One, I’ll describe how my active participation in DR. Oogle (doctoroogle.com) has not only kept my name off of preferred provider lists, but it has also improved the quality of care my staff and I provide, as well as improved the working atmosphere in the office. Transparency will do that.

Then, in Part Two, I will offer my suggestion how one can use DR. Oogle or similar patient referral site to “graduate” from managed care into fee-for-service dentistry without losing patients or profit. As a naughty teaser, let me hint that over three years ago, I offered the idea as an article for the monthly newsletter of my local dental society, only to be refused publication for the first time in over two decades of submissions. I was told that an official nixed it as a transparent “scheme” to harm managed care dental companies, and was therefore below the standards of ADA publications.

“Image is everything”

-ADA/Intelligent Dental Marketing

Finally, in Part Three, I’ll describe how a good offense is also a handy defense – perhaps even in defense against malpractice litigation. Hopefully, a few sincere readers will consider playing to win rather than playing not to lose. And, for those who still don’t see my point, I will reveal how to play not to lose. Fair is fair.  It costs from $625 to $1995 per year, and in my opinion, is the stupidest thing one can do. Hope you enjoy this three part series. 

Assessment

Editor’s Note: This post was first published on PennWell. Dr. Pruitt blogs here and at others sites. His insights are applicable to most all medical specialties.

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com  or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm

Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/prod.aspx?prod_id=23759

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com

Health Administration Terms: www.HealthDictionarySeries.com

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com

Subscribe Now: Did you like this Medical Executive-Post, or find it helpful, interesting and informative? Want to get the latest E-Ps delivered to your email box each morning? Just subscribe using the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Security is assured.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Filed under: Career Development, Ethics, Health Economics, Managed Care, Marketing & Advertising, Op-Editorials, Practice Management, Research & Development | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Collaborative Dental Health 2.0 [Upcoming Three Part Series]