Medical

Dentistry is one of the most stressful medical professions impacting both mentally and physically. The suicide rate among dentists is unfortunately quite high. They are more prone to coronary heart disease, psycho-neurotic disorders, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure than the general population. In short, if a dentist does not control his burnout and stress, it can potentially be lethal. In a recent study, eleven percent of dentists were diagnosed with depression, which is twice the general population.

Potential symptoms of high stress include:

• Irregular meal patterns
• Irregular work hours
• Lack of concentration
• Lack of sleep
• Constant irritation or anger
• Teeth grinding
• Suicidal thoughts
• Patient anxiety
• Economic pressure
• Constant tiredness
• No social life or hobbies
• Constantly relying on sugar and coffee for energy
• Consuming alcohol or smoking to bring down stress.

Controlling Dentistry Burnout

• It’s important to set boundaries and know when to say no. Whether it’s declining to take on more patients than you can handle or refusing to work overtime consistently, setting limits can help prevent burnout.
• You must learn to let go. It’s not worth poisoning yourself with burnout.
• Improving the work environment for the sake of your employees and yourself. Be less critical of others, even of yourself.
• Work more sensible hours. Stop skipping meals. Have a leisurely break after lunch, like a short walk.
• Creating a million-dollar practice is not everything. Money often costs too much. People often ignore their health over wealth all their life, then spend all that wealth on their poor health as they grow old.
• Find a trusted individual to let your heart out.
• Yoga is a great energy booster and a stress buster. Try it.
• Take a short holiday regularly. They are amazing.
• Join a physical exercise program, like a local health club or start swimming.
• Patients can sometimes be hostile or give you excessive anxiety. If you cannot handle the stress yourself, talk to a fellow dentist for tips.
• Learning how to handle patient anxiety and hostility better.
• If nothing works, talk to a Psychiatrist, it is completely normal.
• Getting worried because of too many accounts receivable? Outsource your dental past-due accounts to a collections agency and let them handle these tough patients.
• Have a social life. Spend time with friends, or make new friends.
• Feeling envy by any chance? It is extremely common for people to get engulfed by Social Media. If you are getting adversely influenced by watching those rosy photos posted by other people on social/digital media, it’s time to take a break from those Apps. That portrayal of rosy life anyway does not convey the true picture of other people’s life, it’s just what they want to show others.

A debt collection agency can at least reduce your stress related to past-due accounts. If you need a good debt collections agency for your accounts receivable: Contact us

References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9526243
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5184387/

“Dental Malpractice Insurance” also called “Professional Liability Insurance” is essential for all dental practices to protect them against the liabilities if a patient files a lawsuit.

According to data from NPDB, about 10,000 medical malpractice claims are paid out every year, totaling 3.5 billion dollars. It means that the average payout was nearly $350,000 per case. Unfortunately, more and more dentists are being sued these days. Even if the malpractice claim against a dentist is dismissed in court, a dentist still has to bear legal expenses if he does not have malpractice insurance. Dental Malpractice Insurance covers the cost of lawyers, trial fees, and court fees. Laws regarding medical and dental malpractice lawsuits vary by jurisdiction.

Most common reasons patients sue dentists for malpractice:

1. Tooth extractions can cause Nerve damage, Perforation of the sinus membrane, Undiagnosed infections, Wrong tooth was removed etc.
2. Anesthesia and Root Canal complications.
3. Lack of Informed Consent from the patient.
4. Failure to diagnose Gum disease, oral tumors and cancers.
5. Orthodontists who fail to monitor patients with braces accurately or incorrectly apply braces.
6. Infections of tooth decay from an ill-fitted crown.
7. Unexpected or adverse drug reactions.
8. Failure to refer the patient to a specialist.
9. Injury due to slipping or falling while at the dental office.
10. Complications from Dental Implants, Bridges and Crowns.
11. Death.

Without Dental Malpractice Insurance coverage, you may be unable to defend yourself and harm your hard-earned reputation.

Types of Dental Malpractice Insurance

1. State Patient Compensation Fund (PCF)

Many states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas, Indiana, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nebraska, South Carolina and New York have a provision that limits the liability of the physician/dentist in case a malpractice lawsuit is filed. Dentists usually pay an annual amount to participate in the PCF. This is not a replacement for Malpractice Insurance but only protects when the claimant demands huge sums of money, often beyond the coverage of Malpractice Insurance. Each state has different rules in the way PCF is implemented.

2. Occurrence Malpractice Insurance Policy:

Under this policy, you are covered while the policy was in effect. It does not matter if the coverage is in effect when the claim is made. The benefit of occurrence coverage is that even if you cancel your policy at some future date, you will still have coverage for events that occurred while the policy was in effect.

3. Claims Made Malpractice Insurance Policy:

The policy covers claims made against you only while the policy is in effect. The downside of this type of policy is that coverage must be continued indefinitely to assure coverage for claims filed in the future for actions that occurred in the past. Essentially, once the policy has lapsed, you no longer have coverage. If you no longer need coverage, you can purchase an “Extended Reporting Endorsement or Tail Coverage” to protect you from the past.

Comparison

Popular places to buy insurance:

1. American Dental Association (www.insurance.ada.org)
2. Mitchell & Mitchell Insurance (www.mitchellandmitchell.com/dental/)
3. www.medpro.com/practicing-dentists (www.medpro.com/practicing-dentists)
4. DentistCare by ProAssurance (www.proassurancedentistcare.com)
5. Fortress
6. CNA and Aon Affinity also offers dental firms nationwide malpractice insurance coverage to meet the needs of dental practices.

Links to buy dental malpractice insurance:

• https://www.medpro.com/practicing-dentists
• https://www.profsolutions.com/industries/dentists/insurance/malpractice/
• https://www.cna.com/web/guest/cna/industries/affinity/dentists
• https://www.tdicinsurance.com/Find-Coverage/Professional-Liability

Cost

Recent dental school graduates can expect to pay anywhere from $300 to $1,000 a year for a malpractice policy, depending on the coverage type and the amount of coverage purchased. After practicing for five years, these policies will usually cost $2,000 to $3,000 a year. Rates are higher in large metropolitan areas. Some insurance companies offer a 5% discount on the yearly premium if a doctor participates in an annual risk-management seminar. Sometimes you can add wrongful employee dismissal or sexual harassment claims to your malpractice policy for an additional fee.

Litigious Scrub of Collection Agencies

Patients file many lawsuits after failing to pay for the treatment, but when the dental practice staff tries to recover money from the patient, they wait for a debt collection law violation to sue the dental practice back for huge payouts. Many of these patients have a history of suing medical practices. It is advisable to transfer accounts to a collection agency after it has been due for over 60-90 days. Collection agencies are well trained on debt collection laws, and many agencies do a litigious scrub on these. If a patient is found to have a history of suing doctors, they advise the dental practice accordingly.

Sources:
www.npdb.hrsa.gov
www.eqgroup.com/occurrence_claimsmade_explained/
www.wwml.ca/insurance.html

United States is constantly experiencing rising health care costs and shortages of providers. An overly /lk3restrictive occupational licensing in the form of SOP (scope-of-practice) laws may also increase health care prices in the future.

Healthcare in the United States is very expensive compared to other countries, nearly 75% more expensive than other Western nations. There has been an ongoing debate on whether or not we should adopt a “Free Healthcare For All” system.

The Current State of Health Care in the U.S.

The United States spends more on health care per capita than any other developed nation, yet it does not achieve the best health outcomes. The system is a complex mix of private insurance companies, government programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and out-of-pocket expenses. This patchwork approach has led to disparities in access and quality of care, with many Americans facing financial hardship due to medical bills.

Let us see all the Pros and Cons of a Universal Health Care system.

Pros:

1. The best part is that everyone is covered, and there is no need to buy health insurance anymore. More than 45 million Americans who do not have health insurance today will have it under the Universal Health Care system.

2. A healthier society reduces the number of people dying due to lack of treatment. For example – The lifespan of Canadians is longer than that of Americans.

3. Cost of treatment goes down because costs in a private health care system are substantially inflated. The government healthcare system is more regulated, and the cost of treatment for various healthcare conditions is pre-defined and fixed. It is overall a more effective model. There are no headaches or stress in dealing with private insurance companies – the same standard of service for everyone at a low cost.

4. Removes the disparity. Everyone has the same insurance plan, irrespective of his/her social or financial status. Universal health care is based on the principles of fairness and equality, promoting social cohesion and solidarity within a country.

5. Companies do not have to worry about providing health insurance to their employees and can focus entirely on running their business. Universal healthcare for all also encourages entrepreneurship. This could reduce employer labor costs by about 10%.

6. Healthcare costs are the number one reason for bankruptcy in America; this problem disappears when there is a government-funded healthcare system.

7. Eliminates the administrative costs for doctors as they have to deal with only one government agency rather than ten different insurance companies with varying policies and plans.

8. It simplifies the whole system. It leads to higher economic productivity.

9. It promotes good health care for children, and treatments can be done at an initial state before they become chronic. Reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

10. It promotes self-employment and business startups, as people do not have to worry about health insurance.

11. Accounts receivable is a massive problem for doctors and hospitals today. With the government liable to pay all the medical bills, the issue of patients defaulting on healthcare bills disappears.

Cons:

1. Higher taxes. The rich pay for the health care of the poor. Healthier people pay for those who need regular treatment. People with chronic diseases like the ones suffering from diabetes and heart disease are a colossal burden on the system. The sickest people consume half of the healthcare costs, and the healthiest 50%  of the people consume only 3% of the cost.

2. Longer wait times for physician appointments and procedures, emergency rooms become misused and overcrowded.

3. The policies of the government pretty much dictate how much a doctor can make. Both an excellent and a mediocre doctor make nearly the same amount of money. Less competition means less innovation.

4. Dental and Vision are generally not covered  (or not fully covered) under Universal Health Care. People still have to buy those.

5. People are less careful about their health, as there is no financial impact.

6. Health care costs overwhelm government budgets. It creates socialism and more government debt.

7. Doctors are often assigned more patients than they can legitimately handle, which can deteriorate the accuracy and quality of patient care.

8. Medicine becomes a less attractive career choice. The cost of becoming a doctor is very high. Doctors often carry large student loans. Additionally, it takes nearly a decade of hard-core education and training before one starts practicing. Since their income is capped under Universal Health Care, it will take longer for them to pay off their student loans, and force young doctors to lead a more frugal life for a long time.

9. Innovation can fall behind when compared to a free-market system. This also creates a shortage of specialist doctors in the long run.

10. May restrict access to certain procedures or medications. These systems might choose palliative care over life-saving measures.

11. Smokers, Alcoholics and Drug Addicts receive the same treatment, even though their conditions are self-induced.

12. Many dual citizens will work in another country all their life but return for free treatment when they need long-term care.

13. USA has too many senior citizens. For years to come, the average age of our population will keep rising. There will always be fewer people who will contribute to the system than those who will land up using it.

14. Systems are never perfect. Doctors, their families, their close friends of doctors and some influential people can often get quicker treatment due to mutual understanding within them.

15. It will lead to mass layoffs for millions of Americans connected to medical insurance directly and indirectly.

16. Healthy people who may hardly use the healthcare system are forced to pay. Obamacare is not a universal healthcare system. Medicare for all can provide coverage for all.

17. Due to the non-payment of medical bills, doctors and hospitals have to hire collection agencies which results in more paperwork for everyone, plus they have to pay commissions that debt collectors charge.

Potential Solutions and Strategies

1. Incremental Implementation
   • Gradually expand existing programs like Medicare and Medicaid to cover more individuals.
   • Pilot programs at the state level to test feasibility and address challenges.
2. Public-Private Partnerships
   • Collaborate with private entities to manage costs and improve service delivery.
   • Encourage competition to maintain high-quality care.
3. Emphasis on Preventive Care
   • Invest in preventive measures to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases.
   • Education campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce long-term costs.
4. Cost Control Measures
   • Negotiate drug prices and regulate the costs of medical procedures.
   • Implement standardized fees for services to prevent price gouging.
5. Increased Funding for Medical Education
   • Invest in training more health care professionals to meet increased demand.
   • Offer incentives for practitioners to serve in underserved areas.

When will Universal Healthcare become a reality:

Due to the colossal federal budget deficits, a universal healthcare system seems to be a distant dream. Not everyone agrees that taxing the rich is the right approach, as they may relocate to countries with a cheaper tax rate, which will further hurt the economy.

There is a strong resistance from private insurance companies and pharmaceutical firms and even ideological opposition to increased government involvement in health care.

The universal healthcare system is not happening in America any time soon. Possibly never in our lifetime. With US debt already over 36 trillion dollars, where is the money left? Many citizens feel that the government has left them behind.

The truth is that despite being the most powerful country in this world, we have the worst government when it comes to discipline.

Unlike Canada, which primarily has a points-based immigration system, our borders and immigration policies allow low-wage earners to get citizenship leaving the tax burden primarily on the existing population.