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Doctor's group, hotels join to help patients' familiesSunday, January 20, 2008
Fractured backs are complicated cases from all kinds of standpoints. Often the patient is the family patriarch or matriarch. Now he or she is incapacitated, and medical complications could include heart failure, renal failure and pneumonia. Richard runs 220 head of cattle by himself on his farm. "The whole family stops producing, communicating and is out of control," Ray said. Medicare and supplemental insurance policies do not pay for overnight stays at a hospital before surgery. Under the usual circumstances the Kelleys might have driven the 100 bumpy miles back to Ellsinore, Mo., on Thursday afternoon and then returned early the next morning for the surgery. But an organization called Providers Assuring Rehabilitation Efficacy arranged for the Kelleys to have two rooms at discounted prices at the nearby Victorian Inn & Suites. This was the first time a new arrangement between PARE and MidAmerica Hotels has been used to try to achieve PARE's goals of maximizing outcomes for patients, containing costs and emphasizing the doctor-patient relationship. Certainly the family benefited. "It probably saved us about 50 percent, and we got to rest and have a good meal at Red Lobster," Michael said. Alexandria and Stephany went home to Ellsinore Friday while Michael, his uncle's closest relative, will remain in Cape Girardeau until Richard leaves the hospital Monday. He is able to stay at the discounted rate. PARE is Ray's brainchild. At its heart is his desire to restore the supremacy of the doctor-patient relationship. "At some point doctors are going to have to participate in this extraordinary burden being put on society," he said. So far PARE has been bringing vendors and health-care providers together to talk about steps that can be taken to achieve those goals. The arrangement with MidAmerica Hotels puts the theory into practice. The bones in Richard's back had simply gotten weak. The surgery Ray performed Friday involved injecting a quick-setting plastic to brace the broken bone in Kelley's back. Ray said the procedure is successful in more than 90 percent of cases. Saturday, Kelley was already moving around. Being able to offer a patient and family a discounted rate after surgery when hospitalization is no longer required but the patient might not be quite ready to go home may be the next step, Ray said. He expects to be able to extend the program to other doctors whose patients would be required to make long drives. "If we can work it out and it makes sense we will offer it to other service lines," he said. MidAmerica Hotels is prepared for that. "We would be happy to have whatever the number of patients is," said Brenda Newbern, sales manager for MidAmerica Hotels. Both the Victorian Inn and the Holiday Inn Express are prepared to rent rooms to patients and their families at the discounted rate for a night or at a day rate if that is best for the patient and the patient's family. "How often do you have a doctor caring about the total care of a patient?" Newbern asked. "We became part of his team and looked at ways of helping the patient from the hospitality side." John Echimovich, director of operations for MidAmerica Hotels, called the setup "visionary. It's something you just don't see every day." Medicare pays only a small amount of the total cost of this kind of surgery, Ray said, even though the patient can be immediately fixed and returned home. "It's an indication of how little the government understands about outcomes in terms of cost." "We're simply saying, as a community we can do better," he said. 335-6611, extension 137 Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
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I think this is GREAT! You have enough to worry about when a love one is in the hospital without having to worry about the cost of an expensive hotel room. They do this in the larger cities and the hospital usually give you a list of the hotels that offer a discount to the families. Way to Go Dr. Ray!
If you've ever wondered what a philanthropist is, this man is it.
I think our area is very fortunate to have Dr. Ray. This is a guy who is genuinely concerned AND involved!
Thank you Dr. Joel Ray.
Dr. Ray is a true blessing to these people. Thank you SE Missourian for letting us know about this wonderfull individual.
It IS great that this feature is now in Cape. It has been successful in Memphis for many years. I know, at least, since the late 80's, early '90's. Not to say all doctors, patients/patient families will be able or willing to participate in this good plan. Hopefully, it will be possible.
Even driving in at 6 a.m. is a stress on a family who lives as far away as we do, from either Cape Hospital.
Patient comfort and care should be a primary concern. This proves the good will of this physician. This will also help the hotel industry now that lots of people aren't traveling as much with the high gas rates. It is a win/win/win situation.
Dr. Ray has been a godsend to my family. He is a very caring, compassionate doctor. I agree, we are fortunate to have him in this area.
Dr. Ray's plan is wonderful, but let's give some of the credit to The Victorian Inn and Holiday Inn for sacrificing their profits so these patients' families need not worry about the financial burden of a hotel.
My understanding of this article is that Dr. Ray, wonderful surgeon that he is, only set up this plan. He does not financially support it out of his own pocket, right? Credit goes to the hotels that offer the discount rates.
You're right Nuit. And to the best of my knowledge, Victorian Inn has always had a special rate for the families that was significantly lower than the regular rate.
The hotels is this area have offered this discount program for years. The Physicians CANNOT pay for this due to Medicare regulations or they can face investigation and fines from an orgainization that is only paying a fraction of the the cost for the services they are providing to their patients be it office visits or surgery. The Medicare rules and regulations are very restrictive and the reimbursement does not keep pace with the cost of care...Physicians still continue to provide care to these patients and do not get the recognition of this service they provide daily.
happygirl2, I understand how you feel, but honestly, of the last couple of general practitioner doctor visits of a family member, we saw the doctor for 13-18 minutes were charged $120.00 for each visit. Medicare paid $65.00 and private insurance paid $37.00 for a total of $102.00. If you take an average of 15 minutes per visit, the doctor makes $408.00 an hour. Even if you calculate it without private insurance, he makes $260.00 an hour. Subtract time writing or dictating notes, let's call it $200.00 an hour. Sorry, but no sympathy here for doctors who care so much. I know all about the education, dedication, long hours, on call arguments, too. I appreciate the efforts of the incredibly talented, very arrogant Dr. Ray to set up this PARE program, but I do not buy your argument that Medicare payments do not keep pace with charges. And now, thanks to the SEMissourian, Dr. Ray has the recognition he deserves. MY two cents!
Please don't forget to factor in the cost of the physician staffing the office, and the cost of doing business..computer systems, lab equipment, insurance for his staff. Please forward your contact information so that it can be distributed to the 49% of the MD's surveyed nationally that will reduce the number of Medicare patients they will see if additional cuts in Medicare payments are implemented. I think the appreciation should be given to all Physicians who continue to care for Medicare patients..the reimbursement example you have provided is not for the average office visit that is in the $55 dollar range.
No disrespect intended to Dr. Ray, but I work part time at a small hotel here in Cape. I have worked there almost a year, and to my knowledge we have offered lower rates for people with family staying in local hospitals for at least the last 4 years. The guest just has to inform the desk clerk at check in or when making reservation that they need the hospital rate. My knowledge of hotels in the area is limited, but I believe most if not all have had the special hospital rate for awhile now.
happygirl2, I have no desire to argue with you, but of the three doctors my mom sees regularly, the GP charges $120. for an office visit; the other two, cardiac and gastro, charge $125. and $118. respectively. My own doctor, a GP, charges $115. for an office visit, so it seems pretty standard to me. I understand doctors have very high overhead, but since the average salary is over 200 grand in this area -- like I said -- no great sympathy here for the doctors who "have to" accept Medicare payments.
Enough. Good luck to Dr. Ray with his PARE prgram. And thanks to all the hotels who have already been participating in this for years.
I was speaking of what Medicare pays, not what the charges are. Many other insurance plans that routinely raise their rates to employers and the public but not payments to the providers base their payments on government rates..
The Physicians don't "have" to accept Medicare, they can join the thousands of MD's that will no longer treat Medicare patients in their practices across the country.
Do you track what the average Attorney or Accountant in this area makes/charges as well?