Five pain management physicians share their New Year's resolution for their professional life.
R. Andrew Robertson, MD, founder and president, Wellspring Pain Solutions (Columbus, Ind.): I am the founding member of my practice, and my children are starting into college. I need time to help them visit and make application to colleges. Once there, I will want more time to visit them and have them visit home. In other words, I need more family time and less business time. With the addition of a second physician last year, the practice has grown to the point that we will recruit a third next year. We may need a nurse practitioner as well. My New Year’s resolution, then, is to have one or both of these providers in place and operating by mid-year.
Gennady Gekht, MD, Coastal Pain and Rehabilitation (Bradenton, Fla.): My New Year's resolution is to become more active in research. The area I'm interested in the most is the development of technological advancements — gadgets, if you will. We work with several venture capitalist groups, and we are working on developing different spinal cord stimulators for neuropathic pain. I would also like to better balance my professional life with my personal life.
David Kloth, MD, founder, medical director and president of Connecticut Pain Care (Danbury, Conn.): My New Year's resolution is to seriously explore a cash-based practice to get away from the insurance carriers and all that goes with it. I am tired of telling patients that I can help, but that their insurance won't approve their treatment. I would rather charge a fair price and just be able to help people.
Neil Kirschen, MD, Pain Management Center of Long Island (Rockville Centre, N.Y.): My New Year's resolution is to maintain what we have. Doctors are losing ground financially, especially in pain management. A lot of orthopedic and neurosurgeons are trying to hire their own doctors. When I started more then 25 years ago, we were more or less on our own. The trend is now being an employee of a larger organization, especially in neurology. I've been around a long time and have been able to maintain a very busy practice, but I fear for the young guys coming out. I don't think they have the same opportunities I had by being new in this field. I would love to say my New Year's resolution is to grow 10 percent, but basically, we would like to keep what we have and not lose market share.
Marc E. Lynch, DO, medical director for Casa Colina Surgery Center (Chino, Calif.): It's not so much a resolution, but I decided I'm going to take a few days off, not for vacation, but to revamp and update a few forms and evaluation forms for the patients on initial evaluations and even on follow-ups that will incorporate some of the new data and studies that are coming on how to evaluate the patient. There are different types of evaluations and questions you can ask and different ways to ask them to get better information.
This is a weekly series that will feature five pain management physicians' responses to questions about the specialty.
Next week's question is: What is the most important thing for legislators to do right now to positively impact pain management?
Submit responses to abby@beckershealthcare.com before Dec. 19.
Related Articles on Pain Management:
Pain Management Physician Compensation: 13 Recent Findings
5 New Concepts Up for Discussion at the North American Neuromodulation Society Meeting
10 Ways to Improve Profitability for Pain Management
R. Andrew Robertson, MD, founder and president, Wellspring Pain Solutions (Columbus, Ind.): I am the founding member of my practice, and my children are starting into college. I need time to help them visit and make application to colleges. Once there, I will want more time to visit them and have them visit home. In other words, I need more family time and less business time. With the addition of a second physician last year, the practice has grown to the point that we will recruit a third next year. We may need a nurse practitioner as well. My New Year’s resolution, then, is to have one or both of these providers in place and operating by mid-year.
Gennady Gekht, MD, Coastal Pain and Rehabilitation (Bradenton, Fla.): My New Year's resolution is to become more active in research. The area I'm interested in the most is the development of technological advancements — gadgets, if you will. We work with several venture capitalist groups, and we are working on developing different spinal cord stimulators for neuropathic pain. I would also like to better balance my professional life with my personal life.
David Kloth, MD, founder, medical director and president of Connecticut Pain Care (Danbury, Conn.): My New Year's resolution is to seriously explore a cash-based practice to get away from the insurance carriers and all that goes with it. I am tired of telling patients that I can help, but that their insurance won't approve their treatment. I would rather charge a fair price and just be able to help people.
Neil Kirschen, MD, Pain Management Center of Long Island (Rockville Centre, N.Y.): My New Year's resolution is to maintain what we have. Doctors are losing ground financially, especially in pain management. A lot of orthopedic and neurosurgeons are trying to hire their own doctors. When I started more then 25 years ago, we were more or less on our own. The trend is now being an employee of a larger organization, especially in neurology. I've been around a long time and have been able to maintain a very busy practice, but I fear for the young guys coming out. I don't think they have the same opportunities I had by being new in this field. I would love to say my New Year's resolution is to grow 10 percent, but basically, we would like to keep what we have and not lose market share.
Marc E. Lynch, DO, medical director for Casa Colina Surgery Center (Chino, Calif.): It's not so much a resolution, but I decided I'm going to take a few days off, not for vacation, but to revamp and update a few forms and evaluation forms for the patients on initial evaluations and even on follow-ups that will incorporate some of the new data and studies that are coming on how to evaluate the patient. There are different types of evaluations and questions you can ask and different ways to ask them to get better information.
This is a weekly series that will feature five pain management physicians' responses to questions about the specialty.
Next week's question is: What is the most important thing for legislators to do right now to positively impact pain management?
Submit responses to abby@beckershealthcare.com before Dec. 19.
Related Articles on Pain Management:
Pain Management Physician Compensation: 13 Recent Findings
5 New Concepts Up for Discussion at the North American Neuromodulation Society Meeting
10 Ways to Improve Profitability for Pain Management