This frustrated doctor wants to get back at the system:
As a primary care physician, I’ve found that the most therapeutic way to combat the horrendous medical climate we practice under is to do your best to bankrupt it. Over the past few years, I’ve probably quadrupled my ordering of diagnostic testing (up to the point of patient safety) not only to CYA, but also to help financially melt the system down. The powers that be will not be happy when their shareholders start taking losses. It is interesting to see that now corporate America is starting to shy away from having to finance this BS.
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I sometimes wonder myself if I’m ordering some of these CYA tests to get back at and bankrupt the system that creates such grief in my life, treating not patients but lawyers. The problem is thatthere is really no penalty for over-testing, just under-testing. So I don’t even think about it anymore, I just order any test I can think of to avoid getting sued. If it’s in my head it’s get ordered. And sometimes I think I’m ordering the tests in attempt to bankrupt the system, in order so it’ll be fixed once the lawyers and our defense cause it to collapse completely.
I sincerely hope this guy is kidding, but I fear he is not.
This flea has been sued twice, but I have not yet knuckled under. I don’t know how many more suits it will take to bring me to my knees, but I don’t hope to find out!
best,
Flea
So you don’t practice defensive medicine? Or are you lucky enough to be in one of the few specialties not really being raped by the lawyers, ie psychiatry, or ID?
First anyonmous sounds unhinged. But I do agree that there is no penalty to the doctor for ordering more. Capitated HMO’s tried to limit utilization but the backlash was that patients felt that there concerns were being dismissed.
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