30 minute medical appointment vs. 4 minute medical appointment

I took my 2 year old to see an orthopedic doctor that specializes in pediatrics last Friday. The doctor spent nearly a half hour with us, confirming the pediatrician's diagnosis of radial subluxation or Nursemaid's elbow and casting my son's arm. Prior to seeing that particular orthopedic doctor, I called two other doctor's offices to inquire for an appointment. One of the other doctors didn't have any appointments available until Monday. Apparently the doctor was only working between 2:30 and 4:30 on Friday and he already had thirty patients scheduled in that time period.

I feel fortunate that I was able to get a same day appointment with an orthopedic M.D. that was able to spend a significant amount of time looking at my son's arm. The other doctor that was so booked Friday afternoon could only spend 4 minutes on average per patient. Four minutes isn't enough time to hardly say hello, let alone diagnose and treat an injury.

Both of the doctors are contracted with my insurance company, which means that they have agreed to certain discounted fees. I am sure if you asked either doctor why they decided to go into the profession that they would say they want to help people. However, being a doctor is more than just helping people. Being a doctor is a business and there is a certain overhead to having an office, staff, and treating people. When an insurance company discounts a doctor's fees, then the doctor is forced to see a larger volume of patients to keep the business running.
The quality of patient care is what suffers when a doctor only has 4-5 minutes to spend with a patient.

As a dentist I have made a choice not to contract with any specific PPO dental insurance. I employ a hygienist that sees only 8 patients a day, or one an hour. I myself only have about 8 patients on my own schedule on any given day. If I were an in network provider for PPO insurances I would be discounting my usual and customary fees anywhere from 30 to 50% percent. At that rate, I would be unable to afford to employ a hygienist, unless that hygienist saw twice as many patients. Since doing dentistry like fillings, crowns, extractions, and root canals takes a fixed amount of time, I would be unable to increase the volume of patients on my schedule. It would be difficult to have a viable dental practice if all of our patients were PPO or HMO patients. Also, patient care would suffer if my hygienist only had 30 minutes to clean someone's teeth, take appropriate x-rays, set up the room, and have time for me to do an exam.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com

The Terrible Two's

Today was my second week back from maternity leave for baby #2. My elder son is about to turn two and he is already acting like a two year old.

I had the baby at my office this morning. He is pretty calm and easy going, except for when he is hungry. I had to take one break in the middle of crown preparation appointment to feed him. The best part of the morning though was when I called my dad to say I would be home a little early for lunch. He was having quite an experience with my two year old.

While out shopping together, my dad was holding my son's hand and my son being two and having a mind of his own, tried to walk away from grandpa while they were in a parking lot. Somehow in the process my son now likely has a subluxated radius in his left forearm. I had to cancel two hours of patient appointments this afternoon in order to take my son to see the pediatrician.

Sometimes it is hard being mom and dentist at the same time.

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.familycaredentists.com