Make no mistake. We are living in a time of a dangerous deflationary healthcare microeconomic environment. It is a perfect storm of increased educational debt-loads (beware of delayed gratification lifestyle inflation compounding of cash flow crunch and debt slavery), increased volumes and risk dumping into the ED minefield making the needles in the larger haystack harder to find, and intense downward pressure on reimbursement for the increased risk at a time of imminent need for tort reform.
As K Kay Moody has often said, we need to collaborate on taking back our leadership roles in our now patient and administrator driven healthcare system...
I repost a letter that I and many others in corporate emergency contracted healthcare received recently that is a sign of these times. No judgement. It is what it is. It just doesn’t need to, nor is it able to continue on the path we are on..:
“Greetings and Happy New Year!
As we head into the New Year, I wanted to take the opportunity to share with you some of my thoughts about the state of our profession and its impact on each of us as providers and TeamHeath overall.
As I look back on the 40 years since we founded TeamHealth, I can honestly say that I have not seen a time when our profession has encountered as many significant challenges as we currently face. As an industry and a profession, we are presently under assault on a variety of fronts that will inevitably reshape and reform the practice of hospital-based professional services – inclusive of emergency medicine, hospital medicine and anesthesia. These challenges include declining volumes brought on by the rise of consumerism and high-deductible health plans (HDHP), competitive pressures from the proliferation of alternative care sites, unilateral reimbursement cuts imposed by managed care companies in the pursuit of profits, and legislators who increasingly devalue our profession as the 24/7 safety net for the poor and vulnerable. Given all of this, more than ever, I am proud that TeamHealth is here to stand up for our collective interests and advocate not only on our behalf, but more importantly, for the patients we have the privilege to serve.
This changing landscape and the well-documented payer challenges we face as a profession require that together we take actions and implement necessary changes to preserve the safety net for our patients, protect our clinicians to the greatest extent possible in the near-term, and sustain our viability as an organization over the long haul. In this regard, I will not mislead you - these necessary changes will involve sacrifices from every one of us – clinicians, clients, leadership and the national support center staff alike.
Over the weeks to come, you will be hearing more details about the structural and environmental factors creating the need for change, the significant impact of these headwinds on the company’s and our profession’s viability, and the well-thought-out plans to address these challenges head-on.
As we move forward together in this time of great uncertainty, there are things of which you can be certain:
· TeamHealth will continue to work tirelessly to stand up for all providers (and our profession) against the false narrative emerging in the press and the nefarious intent of certain payers;
· In taking on these challenges and implementing necessary changes, we will be open and transparent in all matters, and at all times;
· Sacrifices will be made at all levels of the organization, starting first and foremost with company leadership; and
· As brighter days emerge (and they will), we will together share in the return to prosperity and growth.
Physician founded and physician-led to this day, TeamHealth is well-positioned to not only survive during these challenging times, but to thrive as together we will outperform others who are either less prepared, or less able, to adapt to the changes and manage through the headwinds. While our culture no doubt will be tested by the many challenges we face, I know it is a culture that was built over forty years precisely to endure such a time as this. While many things are changing around us, our culture and values we hold dear will remain unchanged.
In closing, I want to offer my sincere thanks to each of you for the tremendous work you do every day taking care of the patients who count on us in their time of greatest need and vulnerability. It is a privilege to be your colleague.”
