[NPInfo] Attacks on Retail Health & NP's

[David Mittman]

Steve: He slammed the clinics, where they are, and who owns them more than
NPs. It's really a rant and if it is not in a public place believe me no one
cares or will read it, and they will not take an answer from us. Newspapers
will.It's just another irrational bunch of BS.
I would answer when he says it on the news and then we blow the socks off
his feet. We can even press his buttons about how the DOs were misunderstood
when they started. If you want you can use some of the letter I wrote and
Priscilla posted a few days ago to Dr. Feldman from Indiana. and write to
him if you want to.
Dave
On 9/1/07 9:13 AM, "SGrtWhite at aol.com" <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 ‹³nurse  kiosks.² By the news
> reporters own admission, the Manhattan CVS pharmacy that  she visited, while
> doing 
> her research, was no bigger than 6¹ x 6¹ 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 itŠ. 
> 
> 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  let¹s just
> call this aspect what it is ‹ a way to make a profit filling  prescriptions,
> while ³customers 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 ³examined.² 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 ³undue influence?² In  the
> same 
> vein, have you ever seen anyone exit a doctor¹s 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 physician¹s office.
> MSSNY
> ¹s 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 ³let it slide² like we do time
> and again.  
> 
> In the early 1980s, urgent care centers bloomed, but those ³clinics² 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 ³kiosk
> catastrophe!²  
> Who knows, it may be a slip on the wet stuff on the floor!
> 
> 
> 
> Robert B. Goldberg, DO
> President
> 
> 
> 
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