Providers have a difficult time maintaining surgery profits.  Yes, there are exceptions but friendly drinks with provider CFOs tell the tale.

The headlines of $35K knee replacements make you think surgery clinics are impervious. They’re not.  Yes, they face pressures from insurers, allocated overheads, new software that doesn’t deliver, and staff shortages – but that’s all old news. 

So what has changed?  We think the answer is patients.

Before you even see patients they have participated in the internet circus of symptoms, solutions, quacks, alternatives, different research outcomes, and a biblical-length list of side-effects.  Oh – and advice from friends.

They arrive at your clinic with information that, instead of pointing to conclusions, has created more uncertainty.  Making it worse is the general erosion of blind trust.  They need help – more help than ever.   

So, Doctors and Nurses must spend more time supporting that need.  And those needs extend beyond the face-to-face in the clinic.  Follow-up doubts and clarifications about increasingly complex procedures means more telephone calls, visits and even cancellations.  Then there is the zoo around post-procedure symptoms – again fed by the internet and helpful friends.

The result is either more staff or more overworked staff - and less time for fee-generating activities.