Sermo Launches the Practice Management Exchange to Support the New Physician Practice in a Changing Healthcare World

Physicians Turn to Social Media to Share Peer-to-Peer Advice and Solve
Real-World Business Challenges
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
Sermo (https://www.sermo.com), the nation`s largest online physician community,
today introduced the Practice Management Exchange (PME), a new social media
offering that brings physicians together from across the country to exchange
business advice, earn CME credits on practice management topics, and provide
quality patient care in a system that desperately needs reform. Through the
Sermo PME, physicians are tapping the most useful, practical information source
possible: each other.

Over a year in development, PME was created especially for physicians in small
and solo practices. These physicians can now leverage the latest social media
technologies to "crowdsource" solutions for running their practices, get `pearls
of medical wisdom` from change experts, and work together to move from survival
mode to thriving mode. Because only physicians can join Sermo, PME provides an
ideal forum for important peer-to-peer discussions about billing, cash-only
operations, insurance issues and more.

Physicians are more strained than ever before - especially those in small and
solo practices - to make ends meet while continuing to deliver the quality of
care they know their patients deserve. For years, doctors have shielded patients
from just how broken the healthcare system is. Every day, they are plagued by
interference from insurance companies, declining reimbursements, limited time
with patients, mountains of paperwork and soaring malpractice rates.

Furthermore, few outside of medicine know that when a patient visits a doctor,
that doctor does not necessarily get paid for the visit. They battle with
insurance companies to get approval for the right care and then have to battle
again to get paid. In fact, the Health Economics Institute recently published a
report finding that physicians` offices spend between $23 and $32 billion
dollars a year in administrative overhead trying to get paid by insurance
companies.

While politicians in Washington debate reform policy that won`t take effect for
years, Sermo`s Practice Management Exchange provides solutions right now. Never
before have so many physicians been able to collaborate and learn from each
other`s experiences in one place. PME allows physicians to share insights and
improve the financial underpinnings of their business while earning CME credits.
The CME activities are provided through a joint sponsorship of the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine Office of CME and Sermo, and include an 8-module
curriculum titled The New Business of Medicine.

Below are just a few of the hot discussions happening on the PME right now.

* "Results of a first month transition to CASH ONLY practice"
* "What will you do if the 21% Medicare cut goes through"
* "Patients don`t want to pay their co-payment"
* "New York Times Blog about not taking Medicare patients"
* "Say hello to "Dr. Nurse"?
* "Selling medication in the office"
* "How do you handle referrals and pre-auth`s with limited staff"
* "Multispecialty group cutting pay to keep staff, is yours?"
* "Primary Care-the BIG LIE!"
* "Leaving primary care-Another one bites the dust"
* "Discharging a patient due to the cost of a translator"
* "Patient requests for discounts…"

"Sermo has created the `Practice Management Exchange` to assist working
physicians, especially those in small and solo practices in the transition of
what will inevitably be a changed healthcare system no matter what version of
legislation passes," said Dr. Daniel Palestrant, CEO and founder of Sermo.
"There is a powerful trend in this country towards physicians exploring
innovative new business models and, in doing so, re-establishing the centrality
of the doctor-patient relationship in the healthcare delivery process."

About Sermo

Sermo is where more than 110,000 US physicians collaborate on difficult cases,
share clinical observations and work together to achieve better patient outcomes
than each could individually. Sermo`s platform enables physicians to aggregate
observations from their daily practice, then rapidly and in large numbers
challenge or corroborate each other`s opinions. Sermo offers clients in
healthcare companies, financial services institutions and government agencies a
range of mechanisms to engage directly with US physicians. Leveraging aspects of
social network theory, prediction markets and arbitrage, subscribing clients can
access a stream of fresh, actionable information on emerging trends and
market-changing events in healthcare. Visit http://www.sermo.com.

Sermo
Greg Shenk, 617-500-2310
gshenk@sermo.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009