Practice Management Workshop for Age Management Medicine
Jeff Morris
A new feature at the Clinical Applications for Age Management Medicine Conference in April may be just the solution for practitioners looking for expert information and guidance as they consider their options. A pre-conference Practice Management Workshop will be held for the first time on Wednesday evening from 6 to 9 pm. Those planning to attend Thursday's pre-conference tracks could find it well worth their time to come early.
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The non-CME Practice Management Workshop will include three speakers, who will cover all the basics practitioners need as they consider adding Age Management Medicine either full- or part-time to their existing practice. "This is not something we normally do, but we have had repeated requests for topics in Practice Management," said Greg Fillmore, AMMG conference director. "We will try this out as an evening workshop on the Wednesday preceeding the conference. The reason we are not adding this into the general session is that, by definition, these sessions are not CME-eligible since they are not evidence and science based."
Rick Merner, AMMG executive director and co-founder, said, "It really is an opportunity for the doctors to get the non-CME practical knowledge they need for the business side of an AMM practice. Knowing how to start and structure an AMM practice can be daunting. This workshop increases AMMG’s ongoing support that especially new doctors need."
Kenneth Janson, M.D., FACS, will lead off the workshop with multiple topics from 6 to 7 pm. Dr. Janson is Senior Attending Physician at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, and Chief Medical Officer of PrevientMD, LLC, with offices in Boca Raton, FL, and Lake Forest, IL. Dr. Janson brings extensive experience in clinical science and evidence-based medicine to the field of age management. He received his certification in age management medicine in 2008 and is a frequent speaker at AMMG conferences. Among the areas Dr. Janson will cover are:
- Evaluation of Personal, Professional and Financial Goals: Decision to Practice Full vs. Part Time vs. Gradually Incorporate Direct Pay Model into Your Practice
- Local Demographics and Resources Relative to a Direct Pay Practice
- Anticipating Practice Needs: Diagnostic Equipment, Lab Services, HIPPA Compliant Records, Compounding Pharmacy Relationships
- Education, Support & Mentoring: Training in Age Management Medicine Protocols, On-Going Peer Relationships and Continuing Education
"The first part is to figure out where you are and what you want to do, and what’s practical," said Dr. Janson. "The second part is just learning the environment and what the potential is. Usually in most areas, if you have a moderate price schedule, demographic issues are not a major inhibition. Then it’s just a question of what you need in order to do it physically—office-wise and hardware-wise."
"I'll talk about getting trained in it," said Dr. Janson, "the support available, and basically how you put this into action and have it make sense, economically and professionally. It’s very doable, and there’s a real need for doctors to provide this kind of service." However, said Dr. Janson, some people are going about it in a very superficial way. "I know a lot of doctors are doing it in conjunction with their primary care practice and their urology practice, but you really can’t give it the sort of attention it deserves if you’re doing it while you’re seeing 30 other patients a day who are really sick."
The remaining sessions will feature Derrick DeSilva, M.D., chair of AMMG's conference planning committee, discussing Nutraceuticals and Supplements as an Adjunct Revenue Generator to Your Practice, and Frank Mitchell, Medical Enterprise Consultant of WebtoMed, who will discuss Reaching Patients Online: Search Engine Optimization, Websites, Social Medial and Email Marketing. "I know Dr. DeSilva, and he is a real expert on supplements," said Dr. Janson. "These and other ancillary things can be done and be a valuable addition to your practice. There's a lot of directions you can go. And the talk about marketing, is also very valuable—that’s a key part of this as well."
The workshop will conclude with a no-holds-barred Q&A session. "We'll be open to questions, on anything and everything—the more the better," said Dr. Janson. "I’ve been living this now for ten years, and that‘s after 30 plus years as a urologist in Chicago in the traditional world. I’m having a good time with this, I think it’s the wave of the future and I love this sort of medicine; you can really make a difference."
Overall, Dr. Janson said, "I think it’s a good idea to come early and attend this workshop; it really sets the stage for making very practical use of the information they’re about to learn at the meeting. The rest of the conference will be more valuable if people get this as a framework at the beginning. This is a great introduction to having it all make sense. It’s a very different style than insurance based, disease based medicine. If you want to do it part-time, that’s fine. Ultimately if you want to do it full bore and have it be your full practice, I think that’s a great way to go, and it works."
For the latest information on the 24th Clinical Applications for Age Management Medicine Conference in Orlando as it becomes available, visit www.agemed.org.
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