[NPInfo] NP PA answers to MD attacks

[Sue Emmite]

I am old enough to remember when patients exited the doctors office through
the pharmacy.  It was VERY common in the late 1950's on (until laws were
passed to stop it) for a pharmacy to be owned by a physician and attached to
the medical office.  So you saw the doctor and walked right through to the
pharmacy when you were through and then out to your car.  The office where I
go for my routine care still had a pharmacy attached (which is not illegal
as long as the physcian doesn't own or have interest in it) until they moved
to a new facility.  So Goldberg's comments are invalid.  I don't know where
he lives and what the laws are in his state, but in Texas they are
apparently not the same. Back in the day =:) if the pharmacy was not
attached, there was one right next door or within a block.  So what is the
difference in having a clinic in the pharmacy area?  I have gone to the NP
clinic in one of our grocery stores to get immunizations.  I knew one of the
NP's.  It was the same as if I would have gone to my DO's office and quicker
and cheaper.  No harm no foul!
Sue Emmite FNP

On 9/1/07, Jeffrey Hazzard <jeffnp27 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>     Steve,
>        thanks for leading the way for our good name.  I agree.
>
>        There is another concern.  Political campaigns have shown that only
> countering falsehoods directly, and with "calling it as it is" will be
> effective.  I really think the power of the press is called for.  Being meek
> and "making nice" will not help our cause.  The response must be potent and
> directed at calling the Goldberg and his posse for the economic
> protectionism they are employing.  I concur that me must make a reply, and
> we should not denigrate doctors, but we MUST NOT let reckless allegations
> and inuendos go unanswered.  And, unfortunately, this must boldly tell the
> truth about the physicians, not only tout the value and competence of NPs
> and PAs.  Smiling and trying to appeal to the higher intellect will not cut
> it.
>
>         Jeff, NP , Tampa
> SGrtWhite at aol.com wrote:
>   Hello all,
>
> I wanted to share this posting (read below) that I came across on the NY
> medical society's website re: retail clinics, written by its president. As
> an
> FNP I am infuriated, as all other NP's should be, at the derogatory
> attacks on
> advanced practice clinicians. Please understand that this is as much of an
> attack on advanced practice clinicians as it is on retail health. This
> rhetoric
> is trying to set back our profession 30 years. I am not about to let that
> happen since our NP pioneers have fought so hard to attain the practice as
> we
> know it today.
>
> Let's keep the dialogue open and educate the uninformed. We are above the
> mudslinging as apparently our physician counterparts are not. I know that
> there
> are a lot of NY advanced practice clinicians that read this listserve and
> we
> cannot let Dr. Goldberg and his self-serving comments stand.
>
> Thanks for listening,
> Steve, NP
>
> And now, here that posting:
>
> This week, I was interviewed by Channel 11 News regarding the latest topic
> of the moment — minute-clinics, mini-clinics, drop-in clinics. They have
> different names for what I call one name only —"nurse kiosks." By the news
> reporters own admission, the Manhattan CVS pharmacy that she visited,
> while doing
> her research, was no bigger than 6' x 6' and the kiosk was located in the
> middle of the pharmacy. That is like conducting an exam in a closet. It
> had no
> toilet. How do you take a urine sample without a toilet? What happens when
> the
> cup overflows? She did not mention an examination table either, come to
> think of it….
>
> One of the selling points of these kiosks is convenience. In my world,
> doctors start practicing by 8 am. Most close their office when the last
> patient
> has been seen, whatever the time, not when the store closes.
>
> I have never met a physician who said he became a doctor just to make
> money.
> However, I never met anyone who opened a retail store for any other reason
> than to make money. These kiosks are not about patient care, so let's just
> call this aspect what it is — a way to make a profit filling
> prescriptions,
> while "customers drops another $20 buying merchandise as they wait for
> their
> scrip. Representatives of these kiosks say that the customer has no
> obligation to
> fill their prescriptions where they are "examined." How can someone,
> particularly someone in discomfort, look eye-to-eye with a pharmacist five
> feet
> away and leave? Might this not be an example of "undue influence?" In the
> same
> vein, have you ever seen anyone exit a doctor's office through a pharmacy?
> They are using the same mentality that casinos employ. No matter where you
> want
> to go in a Las Vegas hotel, you have to walk through the casino.
>
> Another problem is government oversight. MSSNY is very concerned that the
> kiosks will not be subjected to the same scrutiny as a physician's office.
> MSSNY
> 's General Counsel, Don Moy, is in continuous contact with the DOH
> regarding
> the financial aspects of corporate practice of medicine, referral of
> services, as well as hygiene standards and the use of electronic health
> records.
>
> The AMA is also seeking a ban on a practice where health insurers offer to
> waive or reduce co-payments for members who seek care at these kiosks.
> Ever
> notice how managed care companies reduce our payments by the co-pay amount
> if we
> neglect to write down that we collected the co-pay? Supposedly, these
> outlets will only service people between the ages of 18 and 65. They will
> leave the
> truly ill, young and old, for us. Really, who are they kidding? Where is
> the
> societal reinvestment into healthcare? Do not all patients know that all
> of
> us treat many patients in need without regard for our fee? What will the
> nurse in the kiosk do? I do not think they can "let it slide" like we do
> time
> and again.
>
> In the early 1980s, urgent care centers bloomed, but those "clinics" had a
> short-lived popularity. I wonder why. Today, I can almost smell the trial
> lawyers who are ready and waiting to pounce on their first "kiosk
> catastrophe!"
> Who knows, it may be a slip on the wet stuff on the floor!
>
>
>
> Robert B. Goldberg, DO
> President
>
>
>
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