ALN Revenue Cycle: BLOG - Weekly Witty BLOG from our CEO Tim Coan

February 17, 2014 Yes, I am Myopic

February 17, 2014

Yes, I am Myopic

I am not anti-big health system. I am not universally opposed to physicians becoming employed by big health systems. Sometimes, that is the best alternative.

But I am a big believer in the value of the independent physician practice.

You might argue that is naïve, my advocating the value of independent physician practices even before the dust settles on what the new rules will be. And maybe that is right, and maybe my judgment is clouded because independent physician practices just happen to be our clients who pay our bills, including my salary. Maybe so.

Yet while the contours of the restructured healthcare industry are still being shaped, there are some things we know and I happen to believe, with conviction mind you, that independent physician practices are needed and will be valuable.

Granted, this won’t be your grandfather’s independent practice. Nor your dad’s. Not even the one you had a couple of years ago. Or might still have even now. But in spite of the challenges – and they are many and large – I do believe there will be a critical and important role for independent physicians if you are willing to embrace it.

All that to say that what we are going to talk about here will be pretty narrowly focused on independent physicians. We’re not out to solve every challenge in healthcare, but we will attempt to tackle some that reside in this little corner the world.

February 17, 2014 Winners and Losers

February 17, 2014

Winners and Losers

The rules of healthcare are changing and changing more dramatically than some people are ready to admit.

Industries go through change all the time, most of which is incremental. But sometimes the changes are so deep and so fundamental that what comes out the backside is very, very different. Or gone completely.

Ask Blockbuster. Or my friend who used to be in the printing business. Or my former travel agent. Or the folks selling fried pork rinds. OK, I have no knowledge of the fried pork rind industry, but I can just imagine that the trend in health consciousness has put a dent in their sales.

When this happens, there are winners and losers. It is more fun to win.

The focus of my musings here are intended for those who lead independent physician practices and want to keep them that way – independent.

Here, we are going to talk about how these changing rules are changing your game. My goal is to help you understand what you need to understand about where our industry is headed so you can make the decisions you need to make in order to control your own destiny.

Simple as that. I hope you find these posts thought provoking. I hope they stimulate discussion with the other folks in your practice as you try to figure out the path forward.

February 17, 2014 Re-Launch

February 17, 2014

Re-Launch

We've been on a little break. OK, an 18 month break.

If you missed us, thank you. I've not been off eating bon bons, but as you might guess, our clients have been more than a little busy trying to fight the alligators in the healthcare swamp. The good news is that being so immersed on the ground has provided some great insights about what is happening, insights that we'll try to bring to this space.

We're excited about getting back to the blog and the dialogues that come with it.

Also, we're changing things up a bit. Rather than the 4,000 word missives that I wrote in the past, this time we'll do shorter and more frequent posts. The objective is the same: Give you something interesting to think about as you think about the business of your practice.

Thanks for being with us.

ALN

What Matters: Our CEO’s blog which provides insightful and provocative commentary for your practice.

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Yes, I am Myopic

Winners and Losers

Re-Launch