A little about me…

My father-in-law said he remembers the time when doctors did house calls and now he feels like he is on an assembly line. This is true. A medical practice must run efficiently or it will lose money. Getting calls through and getting appointments are our top complaints.

I almost didn’t marry my husband over this one. He was stupid enough say “no one knows (or cares) the difference between a board-certified Physician (Family Medicine) and a GP”. We never know the bubbles we live in until someone pops it. He started asking every person we met what the difference was and I couldn’t believe it! No one DOES know! It’s a huge deal: Board-certified physicians attended a multi-year residency and pass a comprehensive exam to become board-certified. Further, we must maintain current knowledge and re-test several times during our careers. A GP graduates from medical school, takes their license exam (mostly legal knowledge) and they begin work. No further training is required. Ever.

Nurse practitioners (NP) are Registered Nurses who have completed further training and passed state boards allowing them to practice medicine and prescribe medications. The requirements vary by state. Physician Assistants (PA) are people with a University degree and have completed PA-school and passed state boards. They are only allowed to see patients under the supervision of a licensed physician.

Insurance is extremely complex. Bottom line: some insurances just aren’t worth the effort to join. Either they pay so poorly or their coverage is so poor that it falls beneath my standard of care that we can’t, in good conscience, see patients and stay in business and look myself in the mirror. Of course, there is more to it. Some insurances want exclusivity. Some require a lot of work to maintain. and on and on and….

Insurances.