PHYSICIANS THINK OF THEMSELVES

Every doctor is running a business. His own! In many situations where the doctor was once free to do as he pleased, he is being curtailed by the government if they pay, or by the insurance  companies if they are responsible for the costs. In the province of Ontario quite recently the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) has clawed back about 3%. As well the paying agencies in every case are not paying for certain services  that at one time were covered,and the rules vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The visits many patients are now allowed to make to a physician can also be limited in a unique way. The patient can go, but if the doctor has reached his agreed upon limit, no payment is allowed. Office costs however go up and the doctor has to find a way to compensate.

Quite recently my wife’s doctor instituted a new way of getting paid that is covered strictly by the patient and it may be a sneaky way that the government and possibly even the insurance industry is avoiding raising the stipend for doctors. Before outlining this system let me be clear, not every doctor engages in this system. In my opinion it could even be instituted in some of a doctor`s patients and not in others The doctor`s nurse tells the patient that for service over the phone, like repeating prescriptions or calling back to answer a question you will be charged a fee per call or a fee for the whole year. Doing this job, in my opinion was a part of the structure of the practice in the past, but it is not forbidden by law in our Canadian health care system and for sure is legal in the U.S.

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