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I was in the hospital for an operation. SOP with my surgeon was to mark the side to be operated on with black marker. Somehow in 2015, after decades of work, he had never had a truly black patient. His trick wouldn't work, so right up until the time I went under I kept having to repeat to him and his staff which side they were to operate on. Six months later I had to have the other side done and he/they still hadn't found (or looked for?) a white marker that could contrast on dark skin.
BTW, I'm guessing you are also not 17 years old. Big difference in an old guy with a back pain and a teenager The differential diagnosis is vastly different so you can't compare yourself to the case referenced in the original post. Again, arm chair doctors think back pain is just back pain regardless of their age....nope!!
What is comical is guys like you will complain about paying their doctor $150 for their visit but will have no qualms paying
1. Their HVAC guy the same money to inspect their system and put in freon which takes them 10-12 minutes.
2. Their plumber to fix a leak
3. Their dentist to do a cleaning and X-rays (when the dentist is not even present and the hygienist does all the work)
4. Their lawyer $400 to type up a letter that their paralegal does
5. Their realtor 6% for selling their home
6. Their accountant the $50-$75 for a 10 minute phone call regarding questions about their taxes
7. Their electrician $200 to install 2 outlets ($100 for trip charge, $50 labor for each outlet)
And unlike those guys above, I don't get paid cash. I have to hire someone to collect money from the insurance company which results in a delayed payment. And insurance companies will sometimes refuse to pay to see if you will contest their charge; when you do they pay but it's an extra loophole the insurance company tries to get out of paying a fee for service. You do realize that doctors run a business just like anyone else? We have expenses to cover as well such as equipment, staff, rent, utilities, malpractice, licensing fees...do you think all of that is free? When you pay that $150, do you think that just goes straight to our pocket? And our expenses are far higher than most businesses. Nurses alone demand 20-25 per hour, medical assistants are 15-20 per hour. An office manager is a minimum $50 K per year. I don't get to pay someone $10 per hour like most businesses.
And unlike the above businesses, when my costs increase, I can't shift that burden on to my patients and just increase prices. I am paid what the insurance company chooses to pay me. I can't say "Well this overhead for this test alone costs me $200". The insurance company will say "Sorry this is all we pay for that" And due to contractual agreements, I can't ask the patient for the remaining feel; I have to accept whatever the insurance company pays or I stop taking that plan altogether. This isn't dentistry. Name another business in which the cost of doing business increases annually but reimbursement decreases annually when adjusted for inflation?
Finally, in most cases, the doctor is not even getting $150 for that 10 minute visit. Your insurance is billed $150 but the reimbursement is closer to $80. Patients are understandably ignorant of this and just see the charges but don't see how much the doctor actually collects.
And maybe the doctor accepts that $80 because he knows it's what a 10 minute visit is really worth. That's still $320-$480 an hour. Not bad.
A cousin of mine had the wrong leg amputated. Then had to go back and get the correct leg amputated. He tried to sue but the lawyer told him me did not have a leg to stand on.
I have done the same. I have mitigated my risk by no longer accepting certain plans and not renewing privileges at certain hospitals and slowly moving procedures to outpatient centers.
And I would hope that insurance companies start no longer accepting doctors like you. You ought to treat all patients.
I recently had an exam by a nurse practitioner. The interview and exam was close to an hour, the most thorough checkup I ever had. Among other things, she looked for possible moles on my scalp, palpated lymph node areas, compared blood pressures in different limbs, etc..... She never seemed rushed, asked a lot of questions, and listened carefully.
My nurse practitioner experience was very similar. Extremely thorough.
And maybe the doctor accepts that $80 because he knows it's what a 10 minute visit is really worth. That's still $320-$480 an hour. Not bad.
Just to give you some frame of reference. As a primary care doc in a low COL area, and with a very simple office setup, my annual over head is about $200K.
Just to give you some frame of reference. As a primary care doc in a low COL area, and with a very simple office setup, my annual over head is about $200K.
Because as a frame of reference, "overhead" means little. "With a base pay offer of $189,000 a year, on average, family practitioners, pediatricians, and psychiatrists are offered the lowest pay of all physicians, according to the medical search and consulting firm Merritt Hawkins & Associates' 2012 Review of Physician Recruiting Incentives." Base pay. BASE PAY.
I don't know any doctors who live in even average-priced neighborhoods. Doctors are very upper income.
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