Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 The LC's info is under the left hand side bar. To me it appears this business consists of a marketing guru and the LC. I suspect that people who make claims that describe unrealistic outcomes are often very inexperienced, and have directly worked with a small population. Regardless it is completely unrealistic for anyone to claim that all mothers CAN exclusively breastfeed. I don't know why clients don't want to go out of home for visits. All I do know is that the hospital system I work in delivers @2000/yr in one facility, and @4000/yr in the other, and we bill insurance for our outpatient consults, including Medicaid, making our services FREE for a lot of our clients (meaning not even a co-pay), and we still have a large no-show and cancellation rate! We work with ParaTransit to provide transportation to and from appointments for FREE, and we also provide interpreters when necessary. It's complicated.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 I've offered the option of an initial consultation on Skype or even on the phone to determine if we need to schedule an appointment. If it is cut and dried, like mother has been diagnosed with mastitis and has pretty classic signs, it basically is resolved with some follow up instructions from me, but if it's a complicated case or I suspect that it's more complicated than that, I would not feel comfortable making suggestions or basing a client-LC relationship on just a webcam or telephone conversation.As far as that business goes, they have a huge social media presence, so they've definitely got someone who is devoting time just to that. At one point, it sounded like they had/have several LCs in different locations working for them and it sounded like perhaps the company was taking a cut of these consultations and paying the LCs on a case-by-case basis. I know this because I emailed them to find out how it works because I was considering possibly applying for some per diem work with them. They didn't have any "spots" open at the time, so I never worked with them, but the above is just my impression following conversation and seeing their Facebook and Twitter comments over the past year or so. Unfortunately, I think that this type of thing is going to become more and more commonplace with many hospitals cutting part or all of their lactation programs. Of our two main local hospitals, one has LCs on staff 40 hours a week total, between two LCs and some mothers go home without seeing an LC. Only one of them is an IBCLC, the other is a "lactation nurse" whose main training was as a LLL Leader under me when I helped her get accredited and some CERP conference sessions here and there. Not that that's a bad thing, she IS an RN, but that seems to be their only real qualification in hiring in their lactation department.If mothers happen to need help when it's just the floor nurses, they usually get a nipple shield and get discharged. The other main hospital nearby no longer has ANY lactation program or staff and mothers that give birth there NEVER see an LC unless they have the money to pay me or someone else outside of the hospital...if they're lucky to ever hear of a lactation consultant. Because I have no idea how to get paid via billing because it's about as clear as mud, even with all of the resources posted here and everywhere else, I have to make a choice whether to take free clients when they can't pay, which I do more often than I'm able to take paying clients. Our local peds office really doesn't like to refer Medicaid or uninsured/poor patients to me because she knows the ones that can't pay me and she knows that I work for a fee, but I've made it very clear that I don't turn away clients, so when they do come to me, I always see them.The local hospital that does have a lactation program basically all but requires the mothers giving birth there to go to their breastfeeding class (FREE), which they come out of with information that sounds straight out of the 70s or 80s, complete with strict guidelines about what you can and cannot eat while breastfeeding (no onions, garlic, spices, broccoli, beans) and that cabbage leaves are the answer to engorgement, plugged ducts and/or mastitis. It's part of their curriculum, I guess.Meanwhile, I offer some classes locally that no one really enrolls in and if I really wanted to market them, I'd probably have to offer them free because they're getting them free everywhere else. It's becoming increasingly difficult to imagine staying in private practice at this rate, so the Skype/Virtual thing doesn't sound like a bad idea if you're looking to broaden your base, I just can't see being able to work the really difficult cases like issues with oral anatomy, mother's anatomy, etc through the internet or phone. , IBCLC, RLC, DONA-Trained DoulaMother Nature Birth & Lactationhttp://www.mothernaturelactation.com The LC's info is under the left hand side bar. To me it appears this business consists of a marketing guru and the LC. I suspect that people who make claims that describe unrealistic outcomes are often very inexperienced, and have directly worked with a small population. Regardless it is completely unrealistic for anyone to claim that all mothers CAN exclusively breastfeed. I don't know why clients don't want to go out of home for visits. All I do know is that the hospital system I work in delivers @2000/yr in one facility, and @4000/yr in the other, and we bill insurance for our outpatient consults, including Medicaid, making our services FREE for a lot of our clients (meaning not even a co-pay), and we still have a large no-show and cancellation rate! We work with ParaTransit to provide transportation to and from appointments for FREE, and we also provide interpreters when necessary. It's complicated.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 , Just curious, what part of the country are you in? AlbannaTampa, FL The LC's info is under the left hand side bar. To me it appears this business consists of a marketing guru and the LC. I suspect that people who make claims that describe unrealistic outcomes are often very inexperienced, and have directly worked with a small population. Regardless it is completely unrealistic for anyone to claim that all mothers CAN exclusively breastfeed. I don't know why clients don't want to go out of home for visits. All I do know is that the hospital system I work in delivers @2000/yr in one facility, and @4000/yr in the other, and we bill insurance for our outpatient consults, including Medicaid, making our services FREE for a lot of our clients (meaning not even a co-pay), and we still have a large no-show and cancellation rate! We work with ParaTransit to provide transportation to and from appointments for FREE, and we also provide interpreters when necessary. It's complicated.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 Puget Sound WA state, about an hour south of downtown Seattle. > > > The LC's info is under the left hand side bar. To me it appears this business consists of a marketing guru and the LC. > > > > I suspect that people who make claims that describe unrealistic outcomes are often very inexperienced, and have directly worked with a small population. Regardless it is completely unrealistic for anyone to claim that all mothers CAN exclusively breastfeed. > > > > I don't know why clients don't want to go out of home for visits. All I do know is that the hospital system I work in delivers @2000/yr in one facility, and @4000/yr in the other, and we bill insurance for our outpatient consults, including Medicaid, making our services FREE for a lot of our clients (meaning not even a co-pay), and we still have a large no-show and cancellation rate! We work with ParaTransit to provide transportation to and from appointments for FREE, and we also provide interpreters when necessary. > > > > It's complicated.... > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Laurie Haessly is the LC referred to on the website. I would say that almost half my practice is with moms who live very far away from me. I never make a promise and the referral is usually from another LC, bc of my expertise with gut health, allergies, inflammation and milk supply. I also pick up a lot of TTs this way. I guess my feeling is that there are just too few really good IBCLCs out there and we need to really raise the bar before we complain too much about this kind of practice. But, as I have said before, a great LC locally is always the best choice. Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA > > The LC's info is under the left hand side bar. To me it appears this business consists of a marketing guru and the LC. > > I suspect that people who make claims that describe unrealistic outcomes are often very inexperienced, and have directly worked with a small population. Regardless it is completely unrealistic for anyone to claim that all mothers CAN exclusively breastfeed. > > I don't know why clients don't want to go out of home for visits. All I do know is that the hospital system I work in delivers @2000/yr in one facility, and @4000/yr in the other, and we bill insurance for our outpatient consults, including Medicaid, making our services FREE for a lot of our clients (meaning not even a co-pay), and we still have a large no-show and cancellation rate! We work with ParaTransit to provide transportation to and from appointments for FREE, and we also provide interpreters when necessary. > > It's complicated.... > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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