Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So, you also believe that the doctor's time and expertise to interpret the results for you and come up with an individualized treatment plan does not deserve any compensation?
If you talked with an attorney on the phone, you would be charged, I guarantee you!
All I know is, in my 54 years, this is the only doctor I've had who did this. They can factor their time discussing results on the phone into the cost of the first office visit if they want.
My doctor's office has a lab in the back, with a couple of part-time phlebotomists who draw the blood. When it's time for my CBCs and thyroid check, I walk in to the Doctor's office, tell them I'm due, they write up the scrip, I go to the back of the office and get the work done, the phlebotomist sends the bill to the insurance company. I never pay a thing.
EXCEPT - if the tests show anything abnormal, they will tell me at an office visit - which I'd pay the co-pay for. If I'm due for a physical or the doctor feels it's been too long since he's done a checkup, he'll tell me I need to stick around til he or the PA are free to do that, and it's an office visit, and I pay the co-pay for that.
I never make a fuss about it, because I don't want to have to check my own blood pressure, do a glucose test, and I have no idea what sounds they want to hear (and don't want to hear), when they use a stethascope. So I don't mind paying for it, or being "inconvenienced" by having to be physically present so the Dr. or PA can say "Yeah, I saw her, she checks out okay this week." It's a comforting thing that they do that.
Would you call your doctor and pay him for an office call and "his expertise" and take a half a day out of your life, to interpret those for you? What do you think his "individualized treatment plan" is going to be? The last time I saw him, his individualized treatment plan was "follow-up when needed".
I've never had any trouble, by the way, getting an attorney to talk to me on the phone for ten minutes, no charge. If I present a case they can win, they offer to schedule a meeting and talk about fees and contingencies. If I don't, they say so and tell me to have a nice day.
No, that's like a haircut. Instead of paying a professional, I find a friend who offers to do it for free.
Do you know that there is a fundamental difference between a manual hands-on exam by an experienced doctor, and reading the values on a chemical blood analysis printout from a test that is done by a third party, that the doctor doesn't even see?
Do you take your roast out of the oven to a person with a PhD in Thermodynamics, to check the temperature on a meat thermometer?
No reasonably healthy person needs a full medical every year. The cardiologist said "follow-up as needed". Blood pressure and cholesterol can be monitored without a full physical examination taking place to determine advisability or necessity of the tests.
A more careful reading of my OP would have revealed to you that I had already made an appointment to be seen by the doctor, and nothing was ever stated or implied about examination by telephone. The doctor cannot tell my cholesterol level by looking at me or prodding me or palpitating me. He needs to see a blood test result, and if there is none for him to see, what is the use of seeing me? If he wants me to have other tests, he can order those on the first consultation AFTER he sees the cholesterol scan results. If he orders additional tests without knowing my cholesterol levels, I would have serious doubts about his competency as a physician.
So, any other blood tests would depend only on the cholesterol results? That does not make any sense at all.
And by looking at you, prodding you, and palpating you, he just might discover issues you were not aware of.
All I know is, in my 54 years, this is the only doctor I've had who did this. They can factor their time discussing results on the phone into the cost of the first office visit if they want.
Yeah, but the insurance company only allows billing for the actual level of the face to face visit. The doc cannot add the additional time for interpreting the results to the office visit during which the test was ordered.
The doc who made you come to the office to discuss results has decided she wants to get paid for the effort she expends going over your results. And she should be.
Do you know that there is a fundamental difference between a manual hands-on exam by an experienced doctor, and reading the values on a chemical blood analysis printout from a test that is done by a third party, that the doctor doesn't even see?
If he is wise, the doc reviews the result of every single test he orders. To do otherwise is to invite a malpractice suit if an abnormal result is not followed up appropriately.
The doctor deserves to be compensated for doing that.
In addition, at the office visit, many doctors just eyeball you and talk to you - it's not like they do a real exam where they poke and prod and inquire - it's all very matter-of-fact - whatever they can easily cram in to ten minutes, then "Next . . . "
I would do my own screening and read the results and then find a good, honest, people-person doctor who really gives a crap.
I have a doctor who I can email and ask questions of, and she actually answers and gives me her opinion about things.
Yeah, but the insurance company only allows billing for the actual level of the face to face visit. The doc cannot add the additional time for interpreting the results to the office visit during which the test was ordered.
The doc who made you come to the office to discuss results has decided she wants to get paid for the effort she expends going over your results. And she should be.
Then I guess all my doctors, my husband's doctors, daughter's doctors, and my mother's and father's doctors have been ridiculously generous with their time, except for that one doctor who did it the way you say it should be done. Heck, my Dad's oncologist has called me, and has told me to call him anytime. He's wonderful.
If he is wise, the doc reviews the result of every single test he orders. To do otherwise is to invite a malpractice suit if an abnormal result is not followed up appropriately.
The doctor deserves to be compensated for doing that.
Several months ago, I had an accident that required stitches. The doctor who put them in did not charge me to take them out. That was included in the original fee, even though it took a return trip for a second office visit.
Similarly, an honest and conscientious doctor who charges me to order a blood test, does not charge me a second time to read it, and a third time to explain to me what it said, and a fourth time to prescribe medication for the condition. When a doctor prescribes a test, he is undertaking to follow up on that test. Imagine a doctors saying "Whoa, here's a result of that blood test---I didn't see that coming! I have to charge extra for this."
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
