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October 2014 Issue 65
INDEPENDENT PRACTITIONER To day THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR DOCTORS WITH A PRIVATE PRACTICE
In this issue
Show value of your practice
Find out about the network that can help you meet requirements to publish your fees P14
Embassy charging affairs Helpful billing and collection advice for those providing services to embassies P25
Surgeons: ‘Stop the stitch-ups’
By Robin Stride
Many independent practitioners will face intensified verbal grilling from both patients and the press following the launch of a cam paign to get the public to probe the true value of new product claims and procedures. Surgeons themselves called in national journalists to their annual scientific meeting in London to brief them on what they and their readers should look for to try and ensure treatment transparency. The British Association of Aesth etic Plastic Surgeons also warned of possible financial or conflicts of interest among those involved in some clinical businesses. Consultant plastic surgeon and new BAAPS president Mr Michael Cadier said new so-called ‘clini cally-proven’ treatments promis ing unbelievable results were launched almost daily. ‘We believe that asking the right questions, doing a bit of research and engag ing in a dose of scepticism is the In association with
healthiest approach for the public.’ Outgoing president Mr Rajiv Grover described a huge rise in media reporting of aesthetic treat ments, but he urged the press and patients to ‘cut into bombastic claims – even from surgeons’. He said consumer press journal ists had their work cut out keeping pace with many issues in the sec tor. ‘I don’t envy the challenges of reporting credible developments from such a murky field, but that doesn’t mean the cosmetic surgery sector should be allowed to stitch people up.’ BAAPS is calling for the media and public to use a measuring sys tem similar to those used in surgi cal journals which ‘grade’ the levels of evidence behind new procedures and claims. Preston-based consultant plastic surgeon Mr Reza Nassab, who con ducted studies presented at the con ference entitled ‘Evidence-Based Hype’ and ‘Cosmetic Surgery in the Press’, called the evidence support ing many new devices ‘low-level’.
Bupa’s PLANS TO GROW THE MARKET ‘If insurers, hospital operators and privately practising doctors worked together on better developing and demonstrating the quality of care to patients, jointly creating new services and delivering better value for money, spending on the private health care sector could return to growth.’ WHY PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST CAN CREATE A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR THE PRIVATE HEALTHCARE SECTOR
PRESCRIPTION FOR GROWTH bupa.co.uk
321394 Bupa Prescription for Growth Booklet A4.indd 1
01/10/2014 11:47
n See booklet inside
Pulling in the patients
Independent practitioners could do more to make themselves a magnet to patients P31
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY: Operations manager Hannah Ward, consultant ophthalmologist Mr Tom Williamson, chief executive Lana Kopanja and consultant ophthalmologist Mr Lyndon da Cruz are celebrating the opening of their new clinic in the Harley Street enclave. n See full story on page 4 He said increased education was needed to ensure people under stood treatments might not be as effective as portrayed in their mar keting materials. His evaluation of high-profile non-invasive liposuction technolo gies showed the number of patients studied varied wildly: from just two cases to a few hundred. Only 16% involved more than 100, and more than half involved under 50. All but one were based on under six months’ follow-up. Only one trial followed patients – just two people – for five years. BAAPS said 36% of authors dis closed a financial or conflict of interest, ‘which means the device company either made a payment, provided the equipment or the author has a financial interest in the business’. BAAPS said media reports of com plications and regulation in cos
metic surgery rose by over 17,000% and 20,000% respectively since 1991. Three-quarters of consumer press coverage involved publicity driven by a commercial provider or practitioner offering the treatment and 15% involved celebrity endorsements. Mr Grover said in the clinical world a widespread use of ‘tiers’ allowed determination of how much research actually backed the findings, thus enabling informed decisions based on evidence that went further than just skin-deep. But without a similar filter for cosmetic devices, there were pitfalls for those who might be swayed by weak data, manipulated photos or paid-for celebrity endorsements. ‘There urgently needs to be a traffic light or warning system for new devices and techniques promoted to the public,’ he said. ➱ continued on page 8