02/18/2020    

RESPONSES/COMMENTS (PM ARTICLES) - PART 2A

RE: What Kind of Podiatrist Do Today's Residents Want to Be? (Allen Jacobs, DPM)

From: Alan Sherman, DPM

 

Why am I not surprised that in 40 years, none of Dr. Jacobs’ residents have told him that primary care practice is their first choice, despite 25% of residents telling us in our polling that they intend to be general practice podiatrists? That is precisely the reason that I conducted an anonymous poll where residents could give us honest answers. A resident would never, ever reveal this perceived “failure” to Dr. Jacobs. He is apparently among the residency directors who think that the more surgery a resident does, the more accomplished s/he is as a human being.  

 

The poll data is not “alleged” or in dispute because Dr. Jacobs says it is. I’d like to dispel another assertion that Dr. Jacob naturally falls into in his comments – that this is a question of surgical vs. non-surgical podiatrists. It never was. All podiatrists do some surgery. This is a question as to how much they do. I prefer to represent it as advanced foot and ankle surgeon vs. general practice podiatrist. As this issue continues to be defined by podiatrists across the country, I would advise all to beware of those like Dr. Jacobs using the term primary care practice or non-surgical podiatrist. No one, least of all me, wants to take surgery away from any podiatrist. I simply want to direct our residency and other training resources to train all podiatrists in the skills that they will be using in practice.

 

Alan Sherman, DPM, Boca Raton, FL

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12/14/2023    

RESPONSES/COMMENTS (PM ARTICLES) - PART 2A

RE: A 40-year Retrospective (Paul Kesselman, DPM)

From: Robert Kornfeld, DPM

 

Dr. Kesselman makes a powerful point. But it isn’t limited to DPMs as to under-valuing services. I am friends with many MDs and the ones who still accept insurance suffer the same issue. The system has conditioned patients to not want to pay for anything so doctors feel their services have no value. I used to share an office with a cosmetic dermatologist and a plastic surgeon. They collected enormous amounts of money every day from their patients, and my patients often refused to pay co-pays and deductibles.

 

I went to a direct-pay model almost 24 years ago. I decide what my services are worth. I set my own fees. Every patient pays my full fee at the time of the visit. My accounts receivable has been $0 all these years. And I have made almost double the net income on 8-10 patients daily than I made on 50 insurance patients daily. Honestly, it’s a choice. I do not work hard. My days are pleasant and stress free. No one has to be exploited and abused by insurance companies.

 

Robert Kornfeld, DPM, NY, NY