It’s hard to discuss healthcare of any kind these days without delving into the Affordable Care Act. Now that it has taken effect, the ACA has had a noticeable impact on us and our patients.
One of the biggest effects of the ACA on patients has been large deductibles. Healthcare providers will only pay out once the deductible has been met. If a patient now has a $3,000 deductible, this means that they must pay the first $3,000 out-of-pocket for their care. In the past, I used to commonly see $500 deductibles, with $1,000 deductibles being relatively high. Now, I often see $3,000 and $5,000 deductibles.
Since I’m considered a specialist, patients are required to pay quite a bit out of pocket. Patients might think twice if they need elective care. Non-emergencies such as low back injuries requiring a few days off of work become quite a challenge. This is the reality that patients are experiencing now. It doesn’t affect the way I treat my patients, obviously. I will continue to provide a very high level of care.
I have talked to providers and the nearby clinic about creating the best value for what we provide and keeping a patient-centric, outcome-based philosophy. If we continue to do those things, everything else will fall into place. There will always be patients that have the need for our care. If we provide effective, conservative, efficient care, patients will respond to that.
I’ve spoken about providing patients with effective self-management strategies and home exercises. If I am able to resolve a patient’s pain in 4 to 6 visits as opposed to making them come in several times a week for 10 weeks, it is way more reasonable – especially for patients that don’t have many resources.
While I haven’t seen a change in the volume of patients that we see, we have run into occasions where we recommend treatment that the patient is unable to pay for, unfortunately. If a patient has a $5,000 deductible, I might only be able to treat them twice. I have to provide them with as much as I possibly can on those two visits. It is a challenge that we shouldn’t have to worry about, but it is a reality.
On some occasions, I might suspect a patient has a disc problem and I need to refer them for an MRI. That is $1,000 out of their $5,000 deductible. They might struggle to find a way to come up with that money out-of-pocket. As a provider, we have to give our patients as much value as we can. We have a bit of an advantage here at Tulsa Spine and Rehab, because we have many different resources for our patients to rely on. We can offer multidisciplinary treatments without having to refer them to external providers. If they need acupuncture, physical therapy, or massage, they can get all of those things in one office visit at our clinic.
While we don’t cut costs by offering discounted programs, we work with patients as much as we possibly can. We’re not going to let their insurance dictate care. Our goal is to work with to do everything we can to get them on the road to recovery.
Our trained professionals offer care in the areas of chiropractic, physical therapy, massage, personal training, and more. Give us a call today at (918) 743-3737.
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