Sermo Launches the Practice Management Exchange[TM] 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. -- 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 discountsO"

"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.