It has been much debated and many people are welcoming the new transparency. I have heard people say that doctors are just too whiny and don’t want people to know how much they really make. True, there are outliers abusing the system. These providers should be brought to light. But, wouldn’t it make more sense that the HHS department investigate this themselves?
Personally, the publishing of my medicare earnings doesn’t affect me at all. I do not have a large percentage of medicare patients in my practice. If anyone wanted to look me up, I am probably towards the bottom of earners. No one can accuse me of being one of those “whiny millionaire doctors” that I have seen posted by many. However, this information can potentially be harmful. Here is why:
1. The information published only shows the gross receipts of doctors. It is not taking into account overhead costs. For certain procedures and surgeries, overhead costs can be a large percentage of this amount. This data does not represent total profit to the doctor, unless someone were to go and subtract out overhead costs. The public is under the false assumption that these numbers represent profit for providers. This is mis-leading and skewed. For example, in my practice, I administer many vaccines. The cost to buy these vaccines are very costly and I am barely above a break-even point after I am paid. Without that knowledge, people would be under the assumption that I am getting paid more than I am.
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2. Doctors in certain specialties and doing surgical procedures are going to have higher incomes. People seeing the published data may not understand this. They may compare all doctors across the board. This, too, will give inaccurate impressions.
3. The discussion of money should not come into the exam room. When I am with a patient, I want to be completely focused on their health. Discussions of how much I get paid would distract me from this task.
4. It may be detrimental to the doctor-patient relationship. If a patient is lead to believe a doctor is only interested in making money, how can they trust that physician? Again, there are doctors who may be guilty of this. But, the majority of us genuinely care about our patients.
5. If there are providers guilty of committing fraud, they are making the rest of us look bad. We want them sanctioned and penalized as much as anyone else. HHS should go after these cases. Not cause the public to make potential false cases from someone who may just be working harder with the medicare population than the rest of us.
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6. Other professions do not have their incomes publicized. Some feel that it is unfair to target doctors specifically like this.
7. My earnings have always been transparent to each individual patient. Every patient receives an EOB (explanation of benefits) after their insurance company has sent me a payment. The EOB shows them exactly what I charged, how much I was paid. and how much I was required to write off for every service. This is transparency and has always been there. Nothing is hidden as others allege we are trying to do.
In summary, publishing Medicare incomes for physicians will lead to incorrect assumptions and skewed views of data being generated. There is great danger that doctors who are high earners may be painted in an unfavorable light. It has the potential of eroding the doctor-patient relationship. If HHS wants to publish this data, there should be an effort to rid it of mis-interpretations and false assumptions.
