Newton-Wellesley plastic surgeons lead emergency-room revolt - Boston Business Journal:

xysecurakihir.blogspot.com
But if you're looking for a plastiv surgeon late at night in theemergencyt room, you might be disappointed. The Newton hospita l recently scrappedthe on-cal l system by which plastic surgeonx once provided coverage for the hospital's emergency room. The move came aftet an open revolt bythe hospital's plastic surgeon s over late-night calls to performj minor operations. When a plastic surgeon now is needec in the emergency whether to satisfy a demanding patient with a minoe cut or to help sew up a carcrash victim, hospital staffers must thumb down a list of phone numbere in hopes of finding someone available.
Newton-Wellesleuy is just one of several hospitals in the state and across the country facina quiet, behind-the-scenes rebellion by some of medicine's most highlyy paid specialists, whose salaries number in the hundreda of thousands of dollars. Locally, other hospitals are facinhg disgruntledplastic surgeons. Norwood Hospital did away with its plastidcsurgeon on-call rotation years ago, while both Deaconess-Walthajm and Columbia Metro-West Medical Center have struggled to obtain full industry sources said.
In the dispute at Newton-Wellesley illustrates the growing problem of getting plastic otherwise known for helping rich clients to look younger and fitter throughg nipsand tucks, to assist in emergency room casesd in which victims have potentially disfigurin injuries. Plastic surgeons at Newton-Wellesley said they are burnec up by a steady declin in what managed care companies pay fortheir services--sometimezs as little as $80 to sew up an accident victim.
Compounding matters, the doctorsw said, is an increasinbg number of patients convinced that a plastic surgeon is needes for any cutor wound, no matter how "If someone comes in with a terrible dog I have no question it is going to get said one Newton-Wellesley plastic "We want them to want our services, but none of us wantzs to do it for $80." This balkiny at emergency room duty by plastic surgeons has been greetedf with raised eyebrows by some of their colleagues in the medical By jettisoning its on-call rotation, Newton-Wellesley and other hospitals take the chance of not beingb able to find a plastic surgeon duringh an emergency, some doctors say.
"It rarely pays any physiciabn to get up in the middle of the night and come and see a This was considered an obligation to patienyt care and also an obligation to the hospital to whichn they haveadmitting privileges," said Dr. Lawrence CEO of Columbia MetroWest Medical Center in The plastic surgeon controversy comes on the heelds of the opening ofa new, $35 milliobn surgery center at Newton-Wellesley. Hospital administrators did away withthe on-calll system, said some at Newton-Wellesley, to avoic angering older plastic surgeons who, with establisheds practices, help fill the hospital's operating rooms.
Resentment over emergencyy room coverage had been building for years and finallyg came to a headlast fall. Rounding up volunteersa for emergency room duty for thecoming year, the hospital'sx head of plastic surgery, Dr. Williajm Loverme, found he could only fill the schedule for aboutsevemn months. A group of seven or eight youngedr plastic surgeons who handled most of the emergencyg room calls then met with hospital Their ultimatum: If you want the schedule either force the older and more established plastid surgeons to take ER callws or raise pay rates for after-houtr duties. The hospital responded by scrappingthe on-callk system.
Newton-Wellesley officials also are considering a form wherd patients seeking a plastic surgeon for minor cuts coulr waive their insurance and pay out of said Dr. Joseph Russo, a Harvard trainesd Newton-Wellesley plastic surgeon with five yearsdof experience. "What they are saying is that they want to keep plastif surgeons happy becausethey don't want to lose casews in the (daytime) operating room. That's where they are makinfg their money," Russo said. "uI don't think anyone really cares They don't want to lose the OR (operating cases to save the littlwER calls," he said. How well this new systek is working is neede in an emergency isanothee question.
"If you're going to provide a service at a you need to havean on-call mechanism by whicjh appropriate consultation can be maintained. The person can't be providingt coverage for the emergency departmenf and be skiing inthe Alps," said Dr. Alasdairr Conn, chief of emergency services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Withouta go-to, on-call person, it coulfd also take some time for emergency room stafferz to track down an availables plastic surgeon, said Charlotte Yeh, director of the emergency department at New Englanfd Medical Center in