Dr. Toby Bond & The Future Of Private Primary Care

Using the EMR to Minimize Stress in the Office

This past month I have had the pleasure of rotating with a visionary internist who is leading the way into the new era of American primary care. In a time when many independent physicians are closing down, Dr. Bond is just getting started, opening his doors in the college town of Athens, Georgia in 2010. If you're a student interested in someday going out on your own, you should find his business model encouraging and his managemet tips helpful.

Dr. Bond, while considering himself an "old fashioned family practice", has done a number of things very differently. "We've embraced the technology," says Dr. Bond. "By opening our doors in 2010, I was aware of the future of the electronic medical record. We invested heavily in a system that would work for us, and designed the office to be paperless from the ground up." By accomplishing a modern office, he is now years ahead of offices who are laboring to transfer established paper charts to their EMR. And trust me, this makes a world of difference in job satisfaction. "I'm done with the note when I leave the room. There's no stack of charts at the end of a long day."

When discussing why his office runs so smoothly, Dr. Bond gives credit to his staff. "Hire a strong office staff, train them well and compensate them accordingly." The office staff is indeed very impressive. They are well-trained to work as a unit. Each member of the team plays a vital role in the workflow of building the initial electronic chart, scanning records, scheduling specialist visits, drawing labs and recording phone notes. And at the end of the day, it is all available at the click of a button.

In marketing his practice, he targets those patients who will appreciate the technology. "We have an online patient portal, so we market to those who might appreciate the access." By using targeted advertising such as the nearby University of Georgia athletic events, his practice is well attended by young university-associated patients.

The electronic record is more than a note--it has major implications in billing, which is tracked by Dr. Bond directly. "Previously practices would be months behind in billing, often resulting in a large number of write-offs on labs and procedures." By combining the practice's electronic system with some knowledge of how notes are related to billing criteria, Dr. Bond is able to stay organized and on top of the current records. The use of computers to simplify the complex billing process will be what allows future independent physicians to keep their doors open.

The final product of a clever business model? A smooth work day, healthy patients, organized records and a much happier physician. "Medicine is a hard job no matter what specialty you're in," says Dr. Bond, "but it is much more enjoyable when you have time to spend practicing medicine rather than worrying about documentation." Seems to me that the small-town doc isn't going anywhere after all.

For more information you can visit Dr. Bond's website at www.drtobybond.com

Interview: Zubin Damania MD (ZDoggMD)

Interview with hard-rhymin rapper and Stanford hospitalist Zubin Damania MD (ZDogg MD) Slightly funnier than pacebo.

Did you ever wonder what kind of doctor you were going to be when you grew up? A hard-rapping stand up comic hospitalist with a penchant for drafting lyrics like, "I remembered she's demented with a nasty case of C.diff", and "I got one glove like Michael Jackson, but it's made of latex and it's your prostate I'm waxin'!" or calling Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz 'Sucker MDs' might not be it.

But that's exactly what Zubin Damania MD is doing... and it's working.

Zubin started out as a mullet-wearing, Costco card carrying rockabilly and ended up (so far) working as a hospitalist at Stanford and making video satire with his pediatrician buddy Dr. Harry on ZDoggMD.com (winner of the MedGadget Best New Weblog of 2010) as well as writing for Freelance MD. You can read all of Zubin's posts on Freelance MD here.

In this interview, Zubin discusses where he started and puts his current practice as well as his passion for combining entertainment and patient education in clear perspective.

ZDogg MD Video: Doctors Today

Interview with ZDoggMD

Part 1: Where did you come from?

In this video: oranges, UC Berkeley, UCSF, Stanford, Costco, physician parents, residency, Gastroenterology, feculent smelling burp juice, working for someone else, hospitalist, comedy, UCSF graduation speech, slightly funnier than placebo, youtube.

Part 2: Why are you doing what you're doing?

In this video: passion, entrepreneurship, opportunity, preventing ulcer disease, safe sex, physician burnout, testicular self exam, megalomania.

Part 3: What advice would you give to medstudents?

In this video: medical school advice, who you are, niches in medicine, pressure, jerks and homeless patients, kids, purpose and passion, picking a specialty, residency, real doctors, friends and rectums, vasovagal party jokes.

Part 4: What mistakes have you made and learned from?

In this video: Mistakes, lifeinthefastlane.com, Mike Cadogan, wasting time, making money, cynicism, jerks, doctors and credibility, Osamacare, targeting your audience, standup comedy, hearing aids and dying onstage.

Techcrunch Interview (includes Hemorrhoid rap!)

In this video from Techcrunch Rhymes and Medicine: Hemorrhoid rap, Snoop Dog, Tony Hsieh, Zappos, Delivering Happiness, educating, Youtube, unprofessional behavior, a human face on medicine, internet patients and Google, medical technology, iPad, medicines culture of unhappiness.

Like this interview with ZDoggMD? Leave your thoughs in the comments below.

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