When Did Varicose Vein Doctors Become Entrepreneurs?

Varicose Veins are like hemorrhoids.

In fact, hemorrhoids are simply just varicose veins that are swollen and painful.

Varicose veins used to be like pond scum in the medical world. Hardly any doctor would have anything to do with them.

General surgeons used to be the only doctors who could treat varicose veins. They did the only known procedure that they could. They stripped veins. It was brutal.

General surgeons hated doing vein stripping.

My father was a general surgeon. He absolutely hated treating varicose veins. It was the only way to treat varicose veins in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. It was barbaric.

It was also very, very painful. There were lots of ugly scars. New veins always came back eventually.

For that reason, add frustrating to the list. It was frustrating for both the patient and the surgeon.

Then came the laser and radiofrequency. Radiofrequency was FDA approved in 1999. Laser arrived a few years later.

Laser and radiofrequency technology revolutionized the varicose vein field. Surgery was no longer required to remove varicose veins.

Until then, there was a market void because no one wanted stripping. Up to almost half of the population will get varicose veins to some degree.

The practice of treating veins was suddenly “in”. There was huge demand since varicose veins are so prevalent. To millions of people, it is disabling.

However, the truth is that for 80% of people with varicose veins, it really is just cosmetic.

Franchised Vein Practices are Really Big Business

Some entrepreneurial varicose vein doctors took it to the next level.

Ah, let’s franchise it, like McDonalds and Starbucks.

Venous disease was the next big business enterprise. So they made it a business venture.

Why not?

Urgent care centers and even oncology have jumped onto the franchise bandwagon.

Businessmen run hospitals. Businessmen also run health insurance companies.

Doctors are at the mercy of these forces. They are pressured to make a profit.

Market considerations, don’t ya know.

The bottom line is that modern medical care is run by financiers and bean counters.

When did the practice of medicine become a business?

When you type in medical entrepreneurs on a search engine, an article pops up that is about varicose vein doctors franchises!

No surprise there.

“Medicine is no longer the science and profession it used to be,” says Dr. Richard Anderson, a 44-year-old vascular surgeon and Veintec franchisee based in Dallas. “Everything’s being scrutinized, from the medicine prescriptions you write out to how long someone’s in the hospital. Franchising lets you practice your profession without all the constraints you have in your other practice.”

Can Abuses Occur in Medicine If Profit Is the Motivation to Treat?

Taken to the next level, that type of thinking by varicose vein doctors can lead to the exploitation of unsuspecting patients.

That’s when unnecessary laser surgeries and ultrasounds become everyday occurrences.

That is not an exaggeration.

Choosing Wisely is an initiative by the American Board of Internal Medicine for the recommendation of “Best Practices.” They state that routine ultrasounds should NOT to be done for patients with only spider veins.
These experts recommend that physicians and patients should question this type of practice.

They state:

· Avoid routine venous ultrasound tests for patients with only spider veins.
· These tests are unnecessary in cosmetic vein cases and are not required.
· Treating the underlying leg vein problem when the patient has only cosmetic spider veins is seldom necessary.
· Since the saphenous vein can be used as a replacement artery for blocked coronary or leg arteries, it should be preserved whenever possible.

The Society of Vascular Surgery formed a task force to promote these recommendations urging vein doctors to take the high road.

There are many vein specialists entrepreneurs who have chosen the other road that is paved with good intentions.

Conclusion:

I have a solo vein practice and treat veins exclusively. My office is not a brand name company.

I can’t afford to advertise on TV like the franchised vein practices in my city do.

In the real world, people often go to the closest vein doctor or to the franchise that advertises.

The irony is that advertising works.

That’s a fact!

Many people seek help at vein franchises. These centers treat vein patients but their real mission is to be as profitable as possible.

Like Michael Corleone said, with his teeth clenched from his broken jaw, to his brother Sonny,

“It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”

For vein franchises, it is just big business after all.

Truth be told, it was personal for Michael and is for me as well.

That felt good.

Read more at http://www.happellaser.com/