Rocket your profits – see page 30
June 2015 Issue 72
INDEPENDENT PRACTITIONER TODAY
FREE INSIDE! 16-pages of contacts to help boost your private practice
The business journal for doctors in private practice
DUMMY DATA EXAMPLE
Casemix profile vs specialty average
352
Arthroscopy of the knee
Find out what your required information print-out of your practice will look like P24 87
Knee Replacement
7%
Hip Replacement
83
Joint Injections for Pain
7%
Joint Injections for Pain
82
Carpal tunnel release
Removal of metalwork from bone
8%
63
Knee ligament reconstruction
Forefoot reconstruction (complex)
5%
Removal of metalwork from bone
5%
4
Carpal tunnel release
3
Skin Lesion Removal
Insured
0%
Length of Stay profile vs average
2012
2
3
4
5
6
2% 32% 30% 32% 32% 22% 16%
7
8
9
12
13
16
‘I’d go ape if I felt normal – now get yer hands off me!’ Whatever star patient Bornean orangutan Vicky, aged 31, was really thinking during her latest ‘primate practice’ encounter, she was overjoyed with the results of the op courtesy of consultants from Nuffield Health, The Grosvenor Hospital, Chester. n Turn to page 26 to see her winning smile after meeting up with ENT surgeon Mr Jawed Tahery, anaesthetist Dr Paul Jamieson and their specialist team
99% 84% 13% 98% 87% 19% 1% 14% 86% 2% 12% 74% 1% 1%
Arthroscopy of the knee Joint Injections for Pain
Other
2013
primate patient
1
18% 48% 35% 33% 31%
0 Hip Replacement Knee Replacement Knee ligament reconstruction
Self-Pay
Activity by Hospital
Specialty Average
1% 0%
Your practice
0%
60
Skin Lesion Removal
Aspen Healthcare
BMI Healthcare
HCA Hospitals
GP Referrer Locations
Patient Demographic Profile vs specialty average
1%
0%
85+
80-84
5%
4%
4%
3%
60-64
70-74
55-59
65-69
1%
5%
75-79
5%
4%
4%
3%
50-54
35-39
30-34
40-44
45-49
3%
25-29
2%
20-24
3%
2%
1%
85+
80-84
10-14 0%
75-79
60-64
55-59
40-44
15-19
7%
6%
5%
4%
2%
3%
70-74
6%
5% 50-54
65-69
Male
4% 45-49
1%
2%
1%
35-39
0% 10-14
20-24
30-34
15-19
25-29
3%
Female
Reform fuels pay gap By Robin Stride
A widening income gap is emerging between the highest and lowestearning independent practitioner consultants in the wake of the Competition and Markets Auth ority’s (CMA’s) rulings affecting how they conduct their business. There has been a surge in the number of top-income consultants, but the outlook for many others is proving bleaker and – ironically – more specialists are now quitting the competitive market arena to take on extra NHS work or private hospital salaried posts. Consultants at a conference heard there was now a ‘big growth’ In association with
in £500k+ incomes, while more specialists earning only £15,000£20,000 a year were starting to pack up their private practices. They were now having to typically pay £50-£55 an hour as a result of the CMA’s order restricting or banning incentive schemes and doctors’ benefits from private hospitals. In a ‘state of the nation’ report, accountant Ray Stanbridge said hospitals were charging £15-£25 an hour for room hire and consultants were paying from £15 an hour for secretaries. They were charged £30 an hour for the best secretaries and the average was £22.
He observed: ‘People are saying enough is enough and they cannot be bothered.’ Mr Stanbridge warned the BMA private practice conference that some of the results of the CMA’s measures might not be what it expected and could be anticompetitive rather than pro-competitive. With consultants’ joint venture equity participation alongside private hospital operators restricted to 5% ownership by individual referring doctors, some were maintaining their investments but had stopped referring. He also warned that, in some cases, hospitals were trying to
FTP Warnin.. N
2013
7%
Hip Replacement
Knee Replacement
Forefoot reconstruction (complex)
FTP Undertakings N
34 January 38 February 8 40 March 6 5 40 April 5 38 May 38 June 7 25 July 6 31 August 9 31 Septem.. 7 44 October 43 Novem.. 5 8 45 Decem.. 4 6 37 January 5 26 February 5 5 19 41 March 5 37 April 47 May 12 33 June 40 July 16 August 26 Septem.. 33 October 35 Novem.. 5 32 Decem.. 31 January 5 35 February 4 29 March 6 20 April
94
Knee ligament reconstruction
FTP Conditions N
2012
29%
Arthroscopy of the knee
.. .
Activity by purchaser type
Janua.. 12 5 7 5 19 Febru.. 17 4 5 March April 14 5 4 10 8 May 14 15 June 10 July 7 4 9 11 August 10 9 Septe.. 16 6 10 20 Octob.. 4 12 17 Nove.. 17 5 5 15 Dece.. Janua.. 15 5 14 Febru.. 9 4 10 15 12 March 10 April 15 8 18 6 5 5 May June 9 4 9 July 13 9 7 August 6 Septe.. 7 Octob.. 16 6 Nove.. 13 4 13 Dece.. 11 4 9 Janua.. 8 6 9 15 Febru.. 10 March 9 4 15 April 10
What can doctor employers do to maintain confidentiality in the social media age? P20
Registration Status Registered with with Licence Licence Registered Registered with Licence
Prepare for data revolution Main Procedures
0% 1% 0%
No secrets online
GMC Fitness to Practice Status
GMC Code Surname Forename Specialty1 (TF) Qualification Year 2584739 Twyman Roy 1982 3305784 Hampton Richard TRAUMA & ORTHOPAEDICS ORTHOPAEDICS 1989 3329397 Gibbons Charles 1989 Anonymised for Ramesh example through aggregregation andTRAUMA use of dummy data 4436625 Nielsen Dominic TRAUMA & 1997 4562618 Palanisamy & ORTHOPAEDICS 1989
7% 10% 10% 8% 4% 5% 6% 5% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1%
How to understand the buying processes that aesthetic patients go through to find you P12
CONFIDENTIAL: Produced by the Private Healthcare Information Network for the exclusive use of the person named belo reproduction. Contains privileged and confidential information. Numbers shown are for the three calendar years 2012-2014 unless otherwise stated.
Consultant Practice Overview GMC Summary
7%
Put yourself in their position
independent-practitioner-today.co.uk
1% 0% 0%
In this issue
£12.50
‘shaft doctors’ to sell their shares cheaply. Some consultants were winding down their clinics. Mr Stanbridge told the conference at BMA House in London that costs for individual consultants would rise. And he predicted that although many specialists might see little practical effect, the outcomes of t h e C M A’s m e a s u r e s w o u l d include: Reduced profitability in private practices; More hospital control; Less consultant innovation; Fewer consultants entering private practice. Turn to page 7
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Ramsay Hea