Posted by Rich Spurr on March 28, 1998 at 12:54:13:
In Reply to: Re: Question 3 posted by Nanc on March 26, 1998 at 17:40:14:
:
: : : : : Apparently physicians are restricted when offering professional courtesy. "If you cannot reduce the cost of care for anyone else in your practice, you cannot reduce it for physicians." This rule is established by private insurers as well as the federgovernment. There are also laws regarding waiving co-pays, offering discounts, and taking kickbacks. There is not a problem, however, if a dr should desire to waive an entire charge for care unless it is part of a fraudulent scheme.
: : : : physicians frequently will accept what the insurance companies pay and not charge additional charges
: : : Very true.
: : According to the web site listed earlier, they are not supposed to do that because people will make a lot more casual trips to the doc.
: I think the docs I work with are selective on who they give the courtesty, too. They are all aware of the healthcare abusers that come in our ER.
At my facility, we have a list of those people who come for the same complaint 2-3 times a week. All of the er doctors know these patients and what they want.
As a matter of fact, one of these patients recently stole a prescription pad from a er doctor and began writing pain medication prescriptions for himself.
The physicans are adapting to the decreased revenues by not ordering as many exams as they once did. Now, they try only to order only what they have to make
the appropriate diagnosis.