(Snippets from the frontline)
Doctor Bonus
Primary Care Physicians are internists, family practitioners, and pediatricians who are frontline doctors encountered by patients seeking medical care.
Some physicians are in private practice, while others are employed by medical business organizations like HMOs. These latter doctors are known as “gatekeepers” and not only provide basic care, but regulate access to more costly specialists, procedures, hospitalization, and blood testing. Statistics are kept on all physicians by government and insurance companies, but within HMOs, data is collected on the frequency of these referrals.
Too many referrals could lead to termination of the physician by the profit-seeking HMO.
But, what if your doctor receives a bonus and is incentivized to withhold care to you or your loved one? Happens every day.
On your next visit, ask your physician if they receive a bonus.
Business has usurped the Hippocratic Oath.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
Leave a Comment