Primary Care Payment Struggles September 12, 2012 Payment, Primary Care, SFMS Member physician payment, Toni Brayer 0 By Toni Brayer, MD The way doctors bill and get paid is a byzantine process and it is no wonder the "private practice" doctor is an endangered species. It takes a keen sense of business, a love of medicine-not money, and a sense of humor to survive. Here is my latest story. You can't make this stuff up.... I saw a patient in September 2001 (note the date...11 years ago). I billed her insurance company, Employers Mutual, LLC for $185.00. I never got paid. Now fast forward to September 2012. I received a document from an attorney who informs me that he is a receiver in a class action suit and $48 million in unpaid claims is being claimed. It appears I am a Category B creditor and will receive a pro-rata share. He recovered $16, 559, 576.88 and took $4,831,214.40 in attorney fees. It looks like in the future (?) I may receive a check for $37.00. No promises are given. I remember my practice back in 2001. I worked about 80 hours a week and never even had enough money to fund a retirement plan for myself. Getting paid a fraction of my charges was common and getting stiffed by insurers completely was also par for the day. I am happy for the windfall of $37.00 for the work I did 11 years ago. I still see patients in a private practice but my main income now comes from my employed administrative position. Waiting 11 years for a fraction of payment is not a sustainable business model. Toni Brayer is an internist who blogs at EverythingHealth. Originally published in EverythingHealth on September 7, 2012. Comments are closed.
