Re: Who here works in medicine?
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 5:23 pm
My son is an Internist and this past year he also stopped taking insurance. He will bill insurance for any tests he performs in his office and just accepts assignment with no further copay by the patient. He also does self-pay for Medicare patients but will submit to insurance on their behalf for their own reimbursement.(I believe that's the law,not sure). He has one fee schedule for new patients that require more time and one for established patients. His office runs much smoother,less bookkeeping and paperwork for his staff and less of his time spent on the phone with insurance companies,which allows him to see more patients and spend more time with them. He's much happier and enjoying his busier practice and patients are responding well.LoQ wrote:There are some GP doctors that have abandoned insurance. I saw a video of one such doctor talking about his practice. I think he actually likes practicing medicine a lot better without insurance. He charges $50 for a visit with a patient, and that's really affordable for most people. He takes whatever time he needs with the patient. His staff and overhead are greatly reduced because he doesn't need anyone to fill out forms and communicate with various insurance companies, and he spends no time on the phone explaining to an insurance company why his patient needs a particular medical service. He seems to love his practice. He says that the additional time he spends with patients has resulted in better health for them. Even without taking insurance, he still has Medicare patients come to see him. They are just self-pay for his services.
His waiting list is quite long. I wonder why.......
I bet we will see a lot of primary care providers go to this model.