Dr. Rosen:      The other day my doctor asked me what I did with all the information I received from our patient’s insurance carrier telling us how to care for our patients. How do most of you handle that scenario?

Dr. Edwards:  I frequently scan the letter if I have an extra 30 seconds and then I toss it.

Dr. Milton:      I usually give it a five second glance and then toss it. . .

Dr. Ruth:         I read the first 20 or 30 before I realized that they were all government induced and thus of little importance except for their bracing for their own legal defense from a hostile government.

Dr. Joseph:     As a retired surgeon you’d be surprised by the number of letters I still receive from insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. That cost is a total waste of health care dollars. And I’m not sure what the reasoning it.

Dr. Michelle:   I have my staff attach these letters to the patient’s chart so I can quickly cross check the topic with the patient’s medication list if from a pharmaceutical company or against the patient’s diagnosis list if it’s from the CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services).

Dr. Rosen:      Much of this imposition of our time is no longer letters, brochures, or even samples. The new twist is a CD or even a CDROM from an insurance carriers, HMOs, IPAs, as well as pharmaceuticals in providing. I actually inserted one of these monstrosities into my computer, and within just a few minutes I had a giant textbook of information on display.  It seemed like an 1800 page textbook of pharmacology. Since I had patients waiting, I had no time to peruse this any further. In fact, I never had an opportunity to return to this disk.

Dr. Sam:         I had similar experiences. After tossing the first few, I started using those CDs as mats for tea or coffee cups.

Dr. Patricia:   Thanks Sam, that’s a great idea to make use of those CDs. I always hate to throw useful things away.

Dr. Paul:         I seem to keep everything that’s sent to me. I have books, journals, by-laws, drug company paraphernalia, and patient derived trinkets all over my office.

Dr. Patricia:   Don’t the patients feel you might be a little disturbed mentally?

Dr. Paul:         I don’t know. But so many of them seem to be impressed by what they see.

Dr. Rosen:      I have a small sculpture of a silly old dog standing upright with a white coat and stethoscope that catches the fancy of just about every patient that comes in. I’ve kept it there for years. It’s even gotten a smile out of some of the most sourpuss patients in my practice. That’s worth its weight in gold.

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