another solo doctor in the news

[Guest guest]

While visiting relatives in San Diego this weekend, I came across this

article in the local paper. Sounds a lot like what Gordon started, but

it appears this doctor came up with the idea independently. Great minds

think alike? For the rest of the article, go to

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20040815-9999-

m1m15ochi.html

Frustrated by bureaucracy, Carmel Valley doctor runs his office without

help

August 15, 2004

CARMEL VALLEY – Dr. Jim Ochi doesn't have a receptionist.

When patients arrive at his Carmel Valley office, they flip a light

switch in the waiting area to tell him they're there.

Medical assistants or nurses? Ochi says he doesn't need them, either.

He gets the patients from the waiting room himself and brings them into

his small examination room.

" My colleagues think I'm nuts, " Ochi said.

In most respects, he's a conventional pediatric ear, nose and throat

specialist. He just runs his practice in an unconventional way.

Increasingly restrictive insurance regulations, the push to see more

patients and the rising cost of practicing medicine are issues that

prompted Ochi to adopt a philosophy he explains this way: " To crank

down the volume and make costs go through the floor. "