How a secretive panel uses data that distorts doctors’ pay
By Peter Whoriskey and Dan Keating, WashPost, Published: July 20
When Harinath Sheela was busiest at his gastroenterology clinic, it seemed he could bend the limits of time.
Twelve colonoscopies and four other procedures was a typical day for him, according to Florida records for 2012. If the American Medical Association’s assumptions about procedure times are correct, that much work would take about 26 hours. Sheela’s typical day was nine or 10.
“I have experience,” the Yale-trained, Orlando-based doctor said. “I’m not that slow; I’m not fast. I’m thorough.”
This seemingly miraculous proficiency, which yields good pay for doctors who perform colonoscopies, reveals one of the fundamental flaws in the pricing of U.S. health care, a Washington Post investigation has found.
Unknown to most, a single committee of the AMA, the chief lobbying group for physicians, meets confidentially every year to come up with values for most of the services a doctor performs.
(More here.)
When Harinath Sheela was busiest at his gastroenterology clinic, it seemed he could bend the limits of time.
Twelve colonoscopies and four other procedures was a typical day for him, according to Florida records for 2012. If the American Medical Association’s assumptions about procedure times are correct, that much work would take about 26 hours. Sheela’s typical day was nine or 10.
“I have experience,” the Yale-trained, Orlando-based doctor said. “I’m not that slow; I’m not fast. I’m thorough.”
This seemingly miraculous proficiency, which yields good pay for doctors who perform colonoscopies, reveals one of the fundamental flaws in the pricing of U.S. health care, a Washington Post investigation has found.
Unknown to most, a single committee of the AMA, the chief lobbying group for physicians, meets confidentially every year to come up with values for most of the services a doctor performs.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Very informative article.
As the last line, mentioned lawyers and accountants seem to charge the same manner. During my college days, I worked at a law firm and part of my job was to maintain billing records ... every call was fifteen minutes (even if no one answered - answering machines were not common then) and the firm expected 10-12 billable hours every day.
Heck, is that pricing philosophy any different than what vets charge to treat your pooch or kitty ?
What about the IT world ... here is a story about how much more the Government pays for subcontracted work.
It reminds me of that old story about needing a technician to fix something ... he comes in, looks at it, grabs a screwdriver, quick turn and its fixed. The bill is a thousand bucks ... and when questioned, the answer is "that's no charge for my time, but a grand for the education that told me which screw needed to be tightened and the appropriate torque."
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