This is another warning to you DPC doctors out there. The post we did recently on Telemedicine Scams was very popular. I received the following from a DPC Doctor and thought I should share it.
I had 2 Medicare patients tell me that they’ve been called by a company and told they qualify for cardiac genetic testing, and that Dr. _______ just needs to sign the request so Medicare will pay for the test. They IMPLY, but do not directly say, that I ordered the test, and they are just waiting for me to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. They knew the patients’ diagnoses, their Medicare numbers, and that I was their doctor. One even used my clinic name in their phone call. One of my patients knew it was a scam and told me what was happening. She was getting calls from different scammed phone numbers telling her the same thing every day. When she tried to call the number back, she would get the message that the number she had called was not in service. Another patient wanted to know why I didn’t think she qualified for the test. I explained why, and that Medicare may not pay for the test, and the fact that the company wanted her to sign the ABN meant that she would be on the hook for payment if Medicare decided not to pay for the test. These tests are thousands of dollars. She eventually went to her “cardiac NP” who ordered the test. I’ve yet to hear whether Medicare paid for it or not, although the patient has been told she did not have the “abnormal cardiac gene”, and she was relieved to know it. Our tax dollars at work.
This is another reason why Direct Primary Care works. We have fewer patients and actually pay attention to what is happening to them. We are their advocates and can spot this garbage from a mile away. The “cardiac NP” is typical of a broken system. Why? For one, there is no such certification for cardiology for NPs. Two, the person fell for the scam.
Keep your head on a swivel for this crap like Ron Burgundy recommends.