Comments on: Why do health policy experts and wonks hate doctors?

By: concierge medicine

concierge medicine — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:48:45 +0000

“That is a pretty good outline. Just pay me a 6 month retainer fee up front to cover all office visits”

this is called “concierge medicine”.

By: Medical Fusion Blog » NEJM: Doctor Discontent

Medical Fusion Blog » NEJM: Doctor Discontent — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:07:12 +0000

[...] were dismissed and even today, much of the health policy change is being driven by those who are overtly antagonistic to physicians and physician concerns. It is a sad day. My prediction is that health policy [...]

By: Susan H

Susan H — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:48:49 +0000

Trench Doc
When can I start?
Honestly, you have outlined such a better system than what we live and die with now.

Why is administration so deafeningly silent on promoting HSAs, or cash pay systems?
The math on ‘regular’ health insurance screams for citizens to convert to HSA. Save two years of those premiums and you can afford to have a cardiac event, and get change back.

By: TrenchDoc

TrenchDoc — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:11:59 +0000

That is a pretty good outline. Just pay me a 6 month retainer fee up front to cover all office visits. I can outsoure th labs and it would be cheaper for both of us because I would not need staff and equipment for the lab. I could do this with one or two support staff in a 1200 sq ft office.

By: Susan H

Susan H — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:51:55 +0000

Trench Doc: where do you want the line to form? All HSA account holders, many disgruntled Medicare recips who have ‘gone bare’(no docs in town can afford to accept new Medicare pts.), and most adults who have had a tutorial in generally shameful insurance company reimbursement practices would all be eager clients.
Here is what I believe a critical mass of patients for any local practice would agree to:
1. Your plan as you outlined above. Presumably estimates would be disclosed up front like plastic surgeons and dentists have always readily done.
2.Work together to establish a contractual agreement on fast-track medmal settlement if god forbid it should ever be needed.
That is, patient is willing to forego painand suffering damages, and accept binding arbitration for some capped amount which would pay for fixing the problem and disability support.
3.Allow the patient some leeway to elect to forego tests which the doc agrees may be extraneous, and allow pt. to go to strip mall labs, or any cheapest purveyor of serum tests or imaging.

When can you start?

By: Ayse

Ayse — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:02:11 +0000

i agree. my husband had also eluded to this alternative. there wouldn’t be a need for billing services, too. however, you probably would need well-drafted contracts with the patients; you know what the indians did to dr. whitman when he couldn’t fix the measles outbreak in 1840s . just kidding; this would also give both parties a personal responsibility. by the way, we still have the problem of low or no income people and the children being left out of this system as well.

By: TrenchDoc

TrenchDoc — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:42:06 +0000

Another approach would be to just bide out your problem just like a home construction job. You choose a doc – take your medical problems to him with a list of your expected outcomes and ask for a bid on what it would take to get you the outcomes you wanted. You pay half up front and the balance upon reaching the desired outcomes. How many of you would do this as a patient? As a Doc, I would come out ahead because now I get 40 percent of what I charge and then my overhead is 55 percent – 15 percent of that is to collect what the insurance company has already agreed to pay me.
This is capitalism at its best.

By: Ayse

Ayse — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:59:39 +0000

i mean with the trenchdoc’s last comment about “making right choices to become healthy.”

By: Ayse

Ayse — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:53:55 +0000

i couldn’t agree more..

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:51:03 +0000

“I live in a metropolitan area in the Southeast, there is a law school here churning out lawyers and still the going rate for lawyers is $250.00 to $300.00 per hour. ”

So what’s their net? Because that is what matters. And what’s the AVERAGE attorney net?