Don’t sign a bad contract just to boost patient load
One of the most powerful forces in the universe is a surgeon twiddling his thumbs, Todd Welter quips.
"Because of the way physicians are trained, they want to be seeing people. They’d rather be doing something than nothing and that can work against them," says Welter, president of R.T. Welter and Associates and consultant to the Medical Group Management Association, based in Englewood, CO.
That’s why Welter warns his clients to look further at a contract, rather than blindly signing up with a plan that promises to bring in more patients. "Some doctors feel that if they don’t have enough patients, they have to sign anything. They end up filling their practice with potentially bad-paying insurance," he adds.
Look at what the contract would mean to your practices and the consequences of saying "no," suggests Jay Williams, principal of Arista Associates, a health care consulting firm based in Northbrook, IL. For instance, if you are taking volume to fill up your office and will lose money every time a patient comes through the door, consider turning it down.
On the other hand, if the contract will pay a portion of your overhead and you can survive on the other business that comes in, it may be in your favor.
Look at what benefits the managed care plan brings to your practice. For instance, find out if the company is going to market you. Will you be getting new patients from the plan, or are they going to use your patient base to convert your current business to lower payments?
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