A few years back, I thought I'd found the most perfect doctor. She was young, about 38, up on all the technology, caring, smart and direct. Then I got a call from her (she called everyone of her patients personally) saying she'd decided to become a hospitalist because the pay was better, she only had to work 8 hours, instead of the typical 14, and it gave her more time to spend with her family.
A marketing/ad agency (that I sometimes do consulting for) caters to cardiologists and radiologists, who have had to become businessmen and market their services. As was stated by someone else here, most fees are determined by the Medicare models, and in the case of radiologists in particular, they are limited in what they can make. It used to be that most radiologists worked for a hospital, but because of the limitations on how much they can make, they are branching out and opening clinics. This means they are now in competition with the hospitals for the CT, PET and MRI scans that bring in a lot of money.
The GP I have now recently added a CT and Ultrasound to his office and has a radiologist come in once a week to run that part of his practice. He said that most of the tests he runs are elective and not covered by insurance, but his patients opt for the tests anyway.
A urologist we did a campaign for doesn't take any insurance anymore. Even adding to his fee after insurance paid, didn't work for him. His waiting room is full all the time.
As is the case with any business or industry, if there are rules and regulations, people will find a way around them. |
