When someone is diagnosed with anemia, it is my job to determine its source. Are they anemic because they are not producing enough blood or are they anemic because they are losing it from somewhere? Are they lacking the ingredients to produce blood like iron, vitamin B12, or folic acid or are they losing blood undetected?

In these times of increasing physician shortage (anemia), something must be done to increase production.  This will either be done through increasing the number of physicians (a process that takes 11 years, minimum) or by increasing the production of each individual physician already in the work force. In other words, allow and encourage each physician to see more patients in the office on a daily basis.

One of the greatest hinderances to my production is the paperwork required by the federal government and third-party insurance companies. Each time I see a patient in the office, I must complete paperwork that details each step of the exam. If I don’t do this, I can’t get paid.

Let me explain. If I take my automoblile to the mechanic and have it repaired, I receive an itemized bill that says: tune-up, parts, labor, and final cost. That was simple. The bill is paid and off I drive. What I don’t need and what I don’t receive is a wrench by wrench description of every bolt that is removed, every screw that is turned, and every minute that is spent in the repair of that car.

That’s what we have to do in medicine. I can’t just write “complete physical exam.” I must describe every organ system examined and detail the findings. I can’t even say “the exam was completely normal.” I must say,” the eyes, ears, nose, and throat did not show any evidence of disease, the neck was supple and showed no lymphnodes, the thyroid was not enlarged, etc…”

Imagine how many less automobiles would be repaired by my mechanic if he had to do what I have to. Imagine how many more people I could treat and relieve of pain if I didn’t have to do all the required and needless documentation. WOW!