Revenue is often cited as a barrier to physician-patient e-mail. This study suggests that patients may be willing to pay a small fee for this, generating revenue for the clinic:
This study suggests that patients of all ages are currently ready and willing to pay a small annual fee for online services with their primary care physician’s office. If 47.1% of a practice of 2500 patients each paid US $10 per year for online services, the annual revenue generated would be US $11775. Not only does this study support the economic feasibility of patient Web portals, but it suggests that online services could form a new line of revenue for primary care physicians.
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{ 9 comments }
Patients may be willing to pay, but it is probably illegal to charge a medicare patient and it is not permitted by many private insurance companies
This is a problem for a tax accountant or attorney.
It is possible for a doc to work for a practice that does accept medicare assignment, and simultaneously work for a separate practice that does not.
He would have to set up the e-mail based consultation system separate from his office based practice.
artificial scarcity:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-03-02-doctor-shortage_x.htm
if their existed real market competition, how many yrs ago would this already have been implemented?
Ten dollars a year for internet access with anticipated revenue of $11,775? This wouldn’t pay for most peoples’ Starbuck bill after taxes are paid. It would take a minimum more like $100/year producing revenue of $117,775 to remotely get me on board.
“if their existed real market competition, how many yrs ago would this already have been implemented?”
People have enjoyed substantial third-party deflection of payment since the inception of Part B in 1967.
If there existed real market competition, this still might not yet be implemented. For a market, someone has to be willing to pay for something else in return.
I can see a patient and get paid, or use the same amount of time and write email replies and not get paid. I get to choose. I would not choose the email
option at $10/patient/year, that is for sure.
“I can see a patient and get paid, or use the same amount of time and write email replies and not get paid. I get to choose. I would not choose the email
option at $10/patient/year, that is for sure.”
I doubt many patients would go for this either once they realized how little communication their doctors would be willing to do in written form — liability concerns and all — no matter how much they paid for the service.
“People have enjoyed substantial third-party deflection of payment since the inception of Part B in 1967.”
Not just the patient, but the doctor has “enjoyed” it as well, as they do not have to chase down those patients for collection.
Right! Third party payors always pay correctly, and on-time! Medicare has NEVER deferred payments at the end of the year because of budget short-falls. No one ever has to call, write, or harass Cigna, Aetna, United, etc., etc., to get paid for services rendered. And neither have these payors unilaterally decided that the service billed for was not the service provided, and changed the procedure code. Aren’t third party systems wonderful?
I can’t wait to sign up for more because I enjoy it so much.
I would rather enjoy collecting payment for services at the time they were rendered – that way no one would have to be “chased down” at all.
“I get to choose. I would not choose the email option at $10/patient/year, that is for sure.”
exactly, when docs operate in an environment of supply ctrl (ie cartel), u dont respond to market dynamics- but choose what u want to provide, knowing full well that the services u sell will be bought somehow, somewhere, at sometime !
i just got back from the mall… (damm there is alot of crap out there for sale that obviously isnt intended for me or my cohort. But that doesnt stop people from trying to make a sale, or from other people from buying)
there is market demand for email comm with doc! just no incentive to provide it when rent collection is so easy !
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