MANAGED CARE BLUES

Meetings & Conventions: Short Cuts August 1998 Current Issue
August 1998
Short Cuts:
MANAGED CARE BLUES

Leaving them in stitches: Dr. Sam (center) and band members.

Navigating the ever-changing morass of rules laid down by the managed-care system may be no laughing matter for the medical profession at large, but who says you can't have a little fun with it?

Enter Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Blues Band, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based group of moonlighting musical doctors led by a former eye surgeon, Sam Bierstock. tongue-in-cheek tunes include "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Blue Shield."

The comical team includes Bierstock on harmonica, a thoracic surgeon on drums, a dental technician on keyboards and a medical technician who sings and plays lead guitar.

Bierstock, a six-year veteran of the managed-care medical lecture circuit, sees his group's evolution as a natural response to the changing age-old medical relationship between doctor and patient. "A huge number of people don't understand how managed care works. All they know is they get a $10 copay," says Bierstock. "I try to explain it to them through my music. It's inside humor for the medical community."

The group got its first gig playing an AIDS benefit in South Florida, and is now busy trying to keep up with performance requests that have grown to include three state medical society conventions within the next year. Featured on the song list: "Give Me One Good Reason to Love You," "You're One Hip Mama ('Cause They Won't Pay for Two)" and "Sorry Ma'am, But Your Bypass is Considered Cosmetic."

For additional information, visit the group's Web site (www.managedmusic.com) or call Dr. Sam at (561) 243-3673.

CHERYL-ANNE STURKEN