Edd said:
I do not promote the DME because I feel it is unfair to promote that service as free. That is an unfair competitive edge. I suppose if a theropeutic sevice promote their work as free in Atlantic City they would capture the majority of the business. Actually that goes for any business.
Not the first time you've confused Lewis and me (I'm the therapist from the Atlantic City area), which is understandable because of the strong physical resemblence.
Anyway, as I wrote last year, my industry underwent a HUGE shake-up a few years after I started in it. Before managed care, a physician wrote a prescription or an order and the insurance company paid for it, no negotiation, no argument, and certainly no second-guessing. Nowadays, you have 23 year old liberal arts graduates (insurance company claims adjusters) making MEDICAL DECISIONS that counteract the therapeutic orders given by experienced and licensed physicians. TALK ABOUT UNFAIR!!! As a result,
my industry changed DRASTICALLY, pretty much overnight, not unlike the car service industry around WDW post-DME.
Prior to managed care, we provided good treatment, but we were also kind of fat and lazy up to that time. We weren't too concerned about how long it took us to produce results because the insurance companies HAD TO pay us; and even though the ethical among us didn't do this on purpose, the longer it took us to help someone out, the more we got paid.
But then managed care came in. All of a sudden the doctors couldn't order the insurance companies to write us a blank check.
Many medical rehab providers went out of business because they couldn't adapt to the new environment. A few, like the one I work for, have actually thrived in this new environment. The treatment we provide our patients is quicker, more cost efficient, and it turns out it's also better for the patient! We are able to rehab them faster, which means they get well sooner and get back into their real life quicker than they would have 15 years ago.
My company now earns money from repeat business -- insurance comapnies know that we produce good results (which keeps their customers, our patients, happy), so they throw more business our way the next time they have a need for our services.
For us, it's a different way of thinking and of doing business, but we're succeeding in this harsh environment because we've adapted rather than whined and complained.
I see the same thing for the car service industry around MCO. Yes, some will go out of business, which really sucks for the entrepreneurs and good employees who did nothing but do their jobs as best they could. The companies (and individuals) who will survive are those who will adapt to the new environment. They'll highlight the benefits of a private car service, and possibly market more towards a slightly more affluent crowd and less towards the
budget-conscious set.
So yes, Edd, I know EXACTLY what it's like to wake up one day and have my livelihood threatened. I lived the adventure. I also suffered the indignity (to them, not to me) of others coming to me looking for jobs, people who had more professional education and more experience coming to me asking to work under my supervision, because my company survived and their company or hospital didn't. Thank goodness my boss, our company's owner, is brilliant and saw a way to steer us into the New World.
Edd said:
Disney is great for the Orlando area and we love our tourists, but you even some of the greatest things or persons we experience can sometimes get overbearing. Someday. let me tell you about my mother who is long time gone.
Edd, nice to see a sense of humor peek out! I'm certain you have one in real life, but you've never honored us with it before.
