April 4, 2005
Dear Patients,
With mixed emotions I must tell you that I will be leaving the clinical practice of medicine on May 25, 2005. I have been practicing in the Conejo Valley for ten years, and have been committed to providing the highest quality of medical care. I have endeavored to form a partnership with you to meet your health care needs, by taking the time to get to know you well, and spending the time necessary to help you get and stay healthy. I want you to know that I have also benefited greatly from this partnership. So why am I doing this?
One big challenge with my practice is my practice style. What you tell me you appreciate – that I take the time to listen and talk to you and figure things out – is reimbursed relatively poorly compared with less time-consuming but more procedural things I might do, such as invasive procedures or surgery. And while it is easy to say, “see more patients,” the reality is that I already spend over 80 hours a week, including many of my weekends, seeing patients, dealing with insurance-related paperwork, and running a business – leaving not nearly enough time for my family – the only thing more important to me than you.
As with many costs in your life, the cost of providing your medical care has increased dramatically over the past several years for many reasons. The first is due to increased government regulation, including mandated HIPAA compliance (Federal privacy laws), CLIA, OSHA, and the federal move to mandate electronic health records (all of this required but unfunded). Second, there is the general increase in the cost doing business (e.g., taxes, salaries, inflation and workers compensation insurance). Third is the skyrocketing cost of professional liability insurance – my costs have gone up 400% over the last three years with no claims filed against me. Add this to bankruptcy of several IPAs (Family Health Care and University Affiliates) that together owed me over six figures. Additionally, most insurance companies are contractually reimbursing me at about the same rate as they did six years ago! The solution for most businesses would be to pass along increased costs to the customer and simply raise prices. Unfortunately health care is not a free-market system, and insurance companies have contracted reimbursements, and generally a “take it or leave it” policy regarding these contracts.
These challenges have left me in a pretty untenable position financially. Struggling the last couple of years to keep the practice viable has been extremely difficult on my family and me, and I finally realized how unfair I was being to them. My children were growing up fast and I was missing it. So when my office lease came up for renewal, and I was given a great opportunity to move into a medical management position for a medical group, I decided I had to take it. Please believe me when I say this has been the most difficult decision I have ever had to make. I do know it is the right thing to do for my family and me, and I will once again be able to regularly have dinner with my children, and will have some normalcy in my life once more.
PLEASE
NOTE: I am actively
searching for a suitable physician to take over my practice. Call in late May or check online for
updates - http://www.familydoc-klein.com.
Important: If you have ongoing medical problems, and I have not
found someone to take over your care, you will need to find a new
physician. You can contact your
insurance company or the Ventura County Medical Society at (805) 484-6822 for
assistance in finding a new physician.
To help transition your medical care to your new physician, I will
refill medications through June 30, 2005, and will be available by telephone
for urgent consultations. If you
have an emergency after May 25, 2005, you should go the nearest emergency room
or call 911. If you have a
complicated medical history and wish to transfer your records to another
physician, we must receive written authorization from you. Please complete the enclosed
“Authorization for Release of Medical Information” form and fax or mail it to
us. Most patients with
uncomplicated medical histories will not need to transfer their records.
Although I do not anticipate it in the foreseeable future, I
may someday go back into clinical practice. So until then, I will miss you as my patients, but hope to
remain your friend and neighbor. I
wish you all the best.