Quote:
Originally Posted by paula_w
where else might this be going on? in this case, pharmas are safer I gathered from the article because they have more quality control? Is anything real? Does anyone care about ethics, competency, human life? oh that's right these people weren't human they had mental illness.
Do you suppose more quality controls will be put in place? or do they have to kill someone first?
This is just the beginning. People should be screaming about this. What happened to the good country doctors that made house calls? Take me back. i want to go back.
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Paula, and others, you may try this at home...
One of our neuros, our main guy, recently left his large clinic (thanks mostly to pain in the #@! insurance and medicare/medicaid paperwork he was drowning in, hassles over getting timely paid, defending his medical decisions to someone who has never seen the patient) and is now working part time as the visiting neuro for our town's best (IMHO) hospital. He also, for a few patients including my husband, has agreed to see us privately (as in, no insurance hassle and direct pay only) on the following terms:
1. he will meet us anywhere we need, including our home, office, even a park (just kidding about the park, but that could be fun, eh?)
2. minimum is one hour (WHAT would one even talk about to a doctor for an entire hour! We are so used to rushed 10-15 minute visits! Think about THAT, it's staggering).
3. Discounts for more than one hour visits (yes, not kidding, and this is probably the best neuro in our city, no small statement, with unmatched knowledge of the pharmacological properties of drugs in the body and particularly the brain)
4. Cost? $300.00 for the first hour, multiple hours less. Our visits when he was in practice with his partners were almost that with the insurance discount but for only 10-15 minutes! (those visits amounted to about $1200.00 per hour going through his office and insurance...let's talk healthcare reform, shall we?)
I think in this day and age, there are a LOT of doctors who would similarly like to go back to the way things used to be...why not ask your doc if he would be willing to try an alternative arrangement? Like everyone else, doctors like to get paid when services are rendered...not 60-90 days later when the insurance company decides the claim is OK and how much should be paid. Not to mention having to defend your medical decision to the insurance reviewer every time they question a prescription you've written (including one the patient has been taking for three years), another nightmare for doctor and patient alike.
PS...over fifteen years ago, our primary sent out a letter informing all of his patients that he was no longer accepting insurance of any kind. If we wanted to see him, we had to do pay out of pocket. More and more docs are doing this, at least in our town.
Why not ask and see? He/she can only say no.