This has nothing to do with Direct Primary Care….or does it? The media is starting to notice that many primary care offices are billing patients twice if they dare to mention another symptom during a wellness check. You can read about it here but also see the image above (Source: Kimberly Chapman MD)
Here is a quote from our “friends” at the AAFP:
“Primary care offices may post signs about separate billing to alert patients that bringing up additional symptoms or issues during a visit may result in more cost-sharing, which the patient may not be anticipating,” the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) said in a statement provided to MedPage Today in an email. “This is not a new practice for physician offices.”
“For example, when a patient has an annual wellness visit or physical, and the physician addresses something else, the physician would bill for an office visit in addition to the physical,” AAFP added. “Cost-sharing is waived for the preventive service, but the patient may have a charge for the office visit.”
Maybe the AAFP should have added this to their quote:
Patients can have a better experience by joining a Direct Primary Care practice. They would know the exact cost each month, can ask as many questions as they want, get 90% off their labs, get any labs their doctor deem necessary, spend more time with their doctor, be seen as often as needed, have free procedures in the office, and truly be happy with their care.
Obviously, that will never happen. We all know how hard it is for some organizations to dislodge themselves from the teet of the government or the insurance companies or Big Pharma.
This does not mean you cannot use this article to promote your practice. Put it on social media and discuss it. Send it to your local paper or call a journalist and tell them how you are different. Strike while the iron is hot!
I remember the billing department getting so excited about this at my old job. I had dared to inject a knee during a wellness visit. You would have thought they had discovered the leprechaun’s pot of gold! When I saw that the bill for the knee injection was going to be $1500 I realized I couldn’t do this and more. Not long after that I came across DPC videos on YouTube. It was time for change!
The article states it is not in the physician control. It is in physician control. I decided to leave the system (had been independent for 20 years) when I realized it is in my control and I needed to go toward the Direct Primary Care Model.
This quote below says a lot
And the issue doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. Immediately after discussing the issue with MedPage Today, Donovan fielded another new report from a patient: Their dermatologist had posted a sign that each appointment is limited to three issues.
I had put that in the Facebook group post. It’s from my father’s geriatrician’s office. I posted it on my Facebook page and said that no one would ever see a sign like it in my office.
Thank you!! I will update the post with you as the source.