Fall 1997 E-Newsletter
This issue features articles on:
- Our new associate Dawn Phillips
- Win $100 in CD giveaway
- Avoiding bad insurance decisions
- Patients in the news
- We are concerned about your: HEALTH
- We are concerned about your:COMFORT
- We are concerned about your:FINANCES
- We are concerned about THE ENVIRONMENT
- HMO Spoof
- What your doctors can't tell you about HMO's
- New office technology: EYEPHONES that
let you watch videos while in the chair
- Important information about your toddler's nutrition:
BABY BOTTLE SYNDROME
Dawn of a New Era
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Dawn Phillips has joined the
staff of the Centre. Dr. Phillips began working in mid-July, and
has had the opportunity to meet and treat many of our patients since
then. She has had nothing but the best comments from those of you
who have seen her, as one would expect of the candidate for the
position who had the strongest credentials of the many dentists
who interviewed for the position. Dr. Tina Mann has cut her schedule
back to one day each week, and is still seeing many of her patients,
and Dr. Phillips has assumed the remainder of Dr. Mann's patient
load. Dr. Phillips is a graduate of Syracuse University, the Dental
School of the State University of New York at Buffalo, and has completed
the general practice residency at Long Island Jewish Hospital. Formerly
from Bucks County, Dr. Phillips and her husband are looking for
their first home in the Haddon Heights - Haddonfield area. Her hobbies
include rollerblading, skiing, painting and hiking.
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Win $100 in CD's
Anyone who has spent any time in our office knows that Dr. Markus
loves music. Everyday, we put a mix of CD's in the player, press
the "shuffle" switch, and listen to a variety of CD's from our
extensive selection. Patients can listen to the mix on wireles
headphones,
that block out all outside sounds. We've decided
to make a contest out of it and it's called The Desert Island
CD Contest.
Here's how it works: Write down the names
of the 10 CD's you would
take with you if you knew you were going to be stranded on a deserted
island. These would represent the only music you'd be able to listen.
Please include the name of the artist (if you know it). At the
end of March 1998, we will select one winner, at random, from
all entries
received, to go on a $100 shopping spree at CD Warehouse in Gloucester
Twp. You can also enter from the contest page on our website.
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Patient Beware
Fall is the time of year when most employers present you with
next year's insurance offerings. Last year, around this time,
Corestates (learn more) Bank, a major area employer, tried to
railroad their employees into a DMO (the dental equivalent
of an HMO).
The insurance company made unfounded statements about
the quality of treatment in their centers, and appealed to employees' finances,
because their out-of-pocket expenses would be lessened by going
to one of their contracted offices.
The problems with most of these
plans is similar to the problems with HMO's. The only way for
the professional to be profitable is to ignore needed treatment,
and not encourage patients
to come back, even for routine treatment.
We have hundreds of patients
in our practice who have tried these plans, and left after a year,
because they perceived the dilution
of quality. Many more have come to us because the dentistry that
they knew they needed, just wasn't getting done.
The truth is,
the only one's making money in today's insurance environment
are the insurance companies. Dentistry has withstood the attack
from these wealthy companies for some time, but they keep bringing
their Trojan horse to the employee gate, and capturing those they
can.
This issue of the newsletter, as all previous issues, continues
to educate our patients about the hazards of enrolling in one of
these plans. Our back page is full of such information.
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Every month our practice randomly rewards referrers
with prizes like concert tickets, manicures, and meals just
for thinking kindly of us. Mike Orlando, Cathy Connoly and John
Truran, won passes to the new Ritz 12 Theater Complex in Voorhees,
and coffee and dessert afterwards at A Little Café.
Bev Chabolowski, Kahi Schrier, Carolyn Palavage, Marilyn Maneely,
Elizabeth O'Brien and Ann Koopman won manicures compliments of
Sojourn for Nails in Haddon Heights.
Congratulations are also
in order for: Stacy Donovan, and proud
grandparents Lynn and Stan Loadholtz on the birth of Jaimi Lyn.
To Maggie and Mike Jenkins on the birth of daughter Cassidy.
To
our manager Lori Griffith, and the members of the Cent4Dent sponsored
women's softball team, The Dental Dames, which won the Fairmount
Park League Championship.
To Heather Riegg, who has entered the
dental assisting program at Camden County VoTech. She told us
that it was because of her
positive
experiences here at the Cent4Dent that she decided on dental
assisting as a career.
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Wishing a Speedy Recovery to our staff:
Joanne Sosslau - Tony Keyes, Dr. Greg Fox - everyone's hopes and
prayers are with you for a speedy and complete recovery.
We are concerned. About your health.
Dr. Markus has been a crusader against managed care in dentistry
as well as in medicine. He has created a newsletter "What Your Doctor
Can't Tell You About HMO's", to educate patients about the pitfalls
of managed care in medicine and what you can about it. Call our
office to request your copy.
Dr. Markus has recently had an article published in a medical journal
called Patient Care which outlines significant dental problems which
can be caused by nutritional supplements like Ensure. If someone
you know is taking a nutritional supplement, they should read this
article to prevent irreparable harm to their teeth. The American
Dental Association has published Dr. Markus' information about this
issue, and about lasers in dentistry.
About your comfort..
In May, the FDA gave approval for two new devices which effect
patient comfort in the dental chair, transdermal Novacaine patches,
and the Premiere Dental Laser. We immediately purchased the patches,
which, when left in place for about ten minutes, makes the mandibular
block injection much more tolerable. These patches cost us $2 each,
and take considerably longer to use than topical anesthetic, yet
we are so committed to your comfort, that we will not pass this
additional cost on to you.
The laser, on the other hand, costs
over $40,000, and is still considered
experimental by the ADA. It is not considered safe for the removal
of old silver fillings, and, we do not feel that our patients
will
be willing to pay an estimated $60 per filling to have their cavities
lased instead of drilled. Please feel free to discuss your feelings
with us by mail, e-mail, or in person the next time you're in the
office so that we can more accurately judge patient sentiment.
We realize that there are many individuals who postpone dental
treatment because of anxiety, and that no matter how many distractions
we
provide, they would still rather be asleep during the procedure.
Therefore, we are pleased to announce that we have added Adam
Sackstein, M.D. to our practice. Dr. Sackstein is an anesthesiologist
associated
with Princeton University Hospital, and will be providing IV
sedation and general anesthesia to our patients and their friends.
Call
our
office to schedule a consultation.
About your finances..
Therefore we offer several different payment options, and financing
through Healthcare Creditline.
We are pleased to recommend Tel3Net, a long-distance service that
can easily provide you with a new source of income. If you are interested
in learning more, call the office and we will be happy to provide
you with a $10 phone card - absolutely FREE!
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About the environment..
We are proud to announce that our new office is now equipped with
special filters that remove mercury waste from our drain lines,
before it can get into the sewer system (and the environment). We
are one of only two offices in NJ that are taking this extra step
to protect the environment, and to put our money where our mouth
is. It costs us substantially extra each month to do this, and therefore
other practices will be slow to jump on this bandwagon, and, surprisingly,
there are no regulations requiring dentists in the US to trap mercury
from waste water. There are, however, over 50,000 installations
in Europe.
"We are supposed to be stewards of our planet. My conscience
would not let me refuse this opportunity to protect it for future
generations, and hope that other dentists will see this not as an
expense, but an opportunity to do something positive."
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H.M.O. -- F.A.Q. 's
(found on the internet)
Q. What does HMO stand for? A. This
is actually a variation of the phrase, "Hey, Moe!" Its roots go back
to a concept pioneered by Doctor Moe Howard, who discovered that
a patient could be made
to forget
about the pain in his foot if he was poked hard enough in the eyes.
Modern practice replaces the physical finger poke with hi-tech equivalents
such as voice mail and referral slips, but the result remains the
same.
Q. Do all diagnostic procedures require pre-certification?
A. No. Only those you need.
Q. I just joined a new HMO. How difficult
will it be to choose the doctor I want? A. Just slightly more
difficult than choosing
your
parents. Your insurer will provide you with a book listing all
the doctors who were participating in the plan at the time the
information
was gathered. These doctors basically fall into two categories
-- those who are no longer accepting new patients, and those
who will
see you but are no longer part of the plan. But don't worry --
the remaining doctor who is still in the plan and accepting new
patients
has an office just a half day's drive away!
Q. What are pre-existing conditions? A. This is a phrase used
by the grammatically challenged when they want to talk about
existing
conditions. Unfortunately, we appear to be pre-stuck with it.
Q. Well, can I get coverage for my pre-existing conditions? A.
Certainly, as long as they don't require any treatment.
Q. What
happens if I want to try alternative forms of medicine? A. You'll
need to find alternative forms of payment.
Q. My
pharmacy plan only covers generic drugs, but I need the name
brand. I tried the generic medication, but it gave me
a stomach
ache. What should I do? A. Poke yourself in the eye.
Q. What
should I do if I get sick while traveling? A. Try sitting in
a different part of the bus.
Q. No, I mean what if I'm away from
home and I get sick? A. You really shouldn't do that. You'll
have a hard time
seeing
your
primary care
physician. It's best to wait until you return, and then
get sick.
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Excerpt from "What Your Doctor Can't Tell you About HMO's":
In the future, leadership in outcomes research and the development
of treatment guidelines will need to come from outside the HMO
industry. Health plans themselves can assist in studies, chiefly
by providing
raw data on the patients' histories. But, for-profit HMO's are not
likely to be the best stewards of honest medical inquiry. If HMO's
are left in charge, some potentially costly diseases will not be
studied.
Definitions of successful treatment may be manipulated
in favor of what is cheap as opposed to what is effective.
A hint of that danger appeared in the book in the breast cancer
controversy, as HMO's "went shopping" for an academic study that would support
their business interests in denying bone marrow transplants.
If capitations' penalties for all-out care are too steep, or the
rewards from undercare are too great, doctors can no longer act as
patients'
advocates. An extreme version of such a problem surfaced in Tennessee,
where some pediatricians stopped immunizing poor children in Medicaid
HMO's because bare-bones capitation rates turned even basic care
into
a money-losing proposition."
Please call, write, or visit our website if you desire more information,
or the complete text of this important essay. The information provided
was culled from the book, Health Against Wealth, written by G. Anders,
senior editor from the Wall Street Journal.
If your employer is thinking
about downgrading your insurance the complete essay is a must-read.
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New Technology
 We
are proud to introduce our Virtual Vision "Eyephones."As our long
time patients are aware, Dr. Markus and his associates have always
offered wireless headphones, with your choice of music, to block
out
the noise of the dental drill, and to help distract our patients
from the procedure.
Dr. Markus attended the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas several years ago, when these goggles were
introduced. He suggested that the
manufacturer develop a dental version).
The goggles, are attached to a VCR and the image is projected on
the inside of the black lens in front of your eyes. The image appears
to be as large as a giant screen TV. We have an extensive library
of video tapes, including live rock concerts, Disney feature length
cartoons, many popular movies, and all three Academy Award winning
Wallace and Grommit animated short subjects. They will help make
even
the lengthiest appointments fly by.
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Attention Parents and Grandparents of Infants and Toddlers
We have noticed an alarming increase in the
incidence of "Baby Bottle Decay". This disease causes an extraordinary
amount of decay in the baby teeth of youngsters often before they
reach their second birthday. It is caused by allowing the baby to
go to sleep with a bottle of sweetened liquid (like apple juice). What causes the decay is the fact that the sugary liquid is bathing
over the teeth all night long.
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