MINNESOTA
DECEMBER 2019
PHYSICIAN
THE INDEPENDENT MEDICAL BUSINESS JOURNAL
Volume XXXIII, No. 09
An inconvenient truth Transparency in pricing BY MERLIN BROWN, MD
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s an independent primary care physician who has been in private practice in internal medicine for 20 years, I’ve observed a looming black fog slowly roll across the health care skyline. In the past, it seemingly hovered in the distance, going unnoticed by most, but it now consumes all visibility. That black fog prevents price transparency. Being in private practice—and providing personalized health care on a fee-for-service basis with no annual fee—gives me first-hand information on the business side of medicine, rather than merely relying on what the media reports say. The way health care is paid for is not only shocking, but it’s the only industry where both the individual and the provider are left completely in the dark about the cost of care.
Comprehensive medication management Expanding the primacy care interprofessional team BY KYLE WALBURG, PHARMD; SARA MASSEY, PHARMD; KYLEE FUNK, PHARMD, BCPS; RANDY SEIFERT, PHARMD; AND TODD SORENSEN, PHARMD
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magine a typical day in your primary care clinic. You are two patients behind schedule. Two of your practice partners are out of the office, and you are covering their inbox. Refill requests are pouring in, and your new medical assistant is not quite up to speed. Your next patient is one of your most complicated; you have struggled to make progress through a list of many medications in your 20-minute visits. You inherited this patient from a recently retired provider and have not had a chance to dig through their medical Comprehensive medication management to page 104
Patients pay significant monthly premiums for health care coverage in hopes that they will be An inconvenient truth to page 124