Doctor Bitches

[Jolly]

And gripes...

Went to see my PCP this week and got unloaded on...Of course, it helps that we've known each other for 44 years...he was primed and pissed.

If he has a GYN refrerral for a Medicare patient and the patient is not already established with a local GYN, Nobody in the local area will take them. Nobody! The metropolitan area has 154,000 people.

The patient has to be referred to the nearest accepting GYN, which is at least 75-90 miles away.

[Axtremus]

Why do you think your area is so lacking supply of GYN relative to demand?

[Aqua Letifer]

I thought this was going to be a review of what Jolly watched on Cinemax last night.

[Jolly]

@axtremus said in Doctor Bitches:

Why do you think your area is so lacking supply of GYN relative to demand?

There are plenty of GYN's.

[Axtremus]

@jolly said in Doctor Bitches:

@axtremus said in Doctor Bitches:

Why do you think your area is so lacking supply of GYN relative to demand?

There are plenty of GYN's.

Are there enough of them relative to demand?

[taiwan_girl]

@axtremus My guess is that the US Medicare payment is less than what the services cost.

So, like almost everyone else, doctors need to make money. If they provide services that cost more than they can charge, they will not be in business very long.

[George K]

These data are from 15 years ago:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3026958/

Medicare reimbursement has fallen 20% in the last 10 years.

Look at the anesthesia reimbursement for a colectomy.

It's 2 AM, and my surgeon calls and says he has a guy with a perforated diverticulum that needs to go to the OR now. I get dressed, drive in, see the patient in the ER, go up to the OR and set up - draw up drugs, set up IVs, get my airway equipment, make sure that the anesthesia machine is working. We bring the patient upstairs, and I get him off to sleep at 3 AM. Surgery takes 2 ½ hours. It's now about 5:30 AM, and I take the patient to the recovery room. I have to stay in the house until he's discharged to the floor, about 90 minutes later.

I spend 4 hours with the patient, in the middle of the night: $491.

Now, call a plumber at that time to fix a busted pipe and he spends 4 hours in your house. Think you'll get by with only a $491 bill?

I doubt it.

[Jolly]

Yet, the government wants to shove everybody into Medicare and Medicaid. The Medicaid folks can be the worst...They want to wave The Card in your face and demand Cadillac treatment...

[Axtremus]

@George-K , @Jolly , it looks like you think Medicare reimbursement rates are too low. What public policy changes do you think is needed to address the Medicare reimbursement rate issue? Just raise the reimbursement rates? Also raise Medicare taxes to pay for the higher reimbursement rates?