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Is there a fundamental flaw?
By
John K. Wisniewski
BCMS
CEO/Executive Director
Efforts to "bend the cost
curve" focus on physician incentives, but what about patients?
From their perspective, higher
deductibles are an immediate disincentive to seek care, while
out-of-pocket maximums and the ban on lifetime caps eliminate cost
concerns for catastrophic illnesses.
Your patient's unspoken philosophy
is probably, "I'm worried there's something really wrong with
me, but hope to make it through the year to avoid paying this giant
deductible twice." Of course, this philosophy will bend
the curve -- unfortunately, twice.
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SAVE THE DATE
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
Red-carpet auction
featuring
comedian/actors
Steve
and Nancy Carell
to
benefit ARTrust
7
p.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday,
Feb. 23
during
the AAAAI annual meeting in San Antonio
For more information
and to purchase tickets,
click here.
_____________________
RACE for ALLERGY AND ASTHMA RESEARCH
5K run/walk
Feb. 24, San Antonio
For more information,
click here or
call 414-272-6071.
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Clinical technology
resource available to BCMS members free of charge
Visual DX is web-based and
offers a comprehensive medical image library physicians can access
when making a diagnosis.
Visual DX is organized by
symptoms, rather than by diagnoses, thus making it an efficient
tool for physicians to make an accurate diagnosis.
In partnership with the San
Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD) and Southwest Texas
Regional Advisory Council for Trauma (STRAC), BCMS offers this
service free of charge to all physician members of BCMS.
Click here
to get started using this resource.
NOTE: You will need your
medical license number and BCMS ID to get started. If you need
either, please call the BCMS membership department at (210)
301-4371.
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TRENDING TOPICS
83rd Legislative
Session Update
Senate committees announced; finance committee
tackling SB1
By Mary E. Nava, MBA
BCMS Chief Governmental and
Community Relations Officer
Senate committees for the 83rd
Session recently were announced (click here for a
list), and the Senate Finance Committee has been in
hearings in the past week to review SB1, the Senate's budget bill.
Numerous state agencies and
institutions have come before the committee to provide testimony
on their budget needs. The committee also
is working on the Article II budget, which pertains to that
part of the budget that decides how much money the state will spend
on healthcare services.
Stay tuned to this column, as
well as San
Antonio Medicine and the BCMS website, for updates
on this and other activities, hearings and legislative updates as
they occur.
For more information and local discussion on
legislative advocacy, practice management and other issues,
consider joining the BCMS Socioeconomics and Legislative Committee.
For information, contact Mary Nava at
210-301-4395 or by email.
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About The Weekly Dose
The Weekly Dose is a service of the Bexar
County Medical Society.
Some of the suggestions conveyed may not be applicable to
your practice today,
but the goal is to offer information over time that returns value
in excess
of the cost of your membership.
If you would like to recommend future topics to share with
your colleagues,
please submit them to the BCMS executive director at john.wisniewski@bcms.org.
All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.
Copyright © 2013
Bexar County Medical Society, San Antonio, Texas.
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