902 million: The number of doctor's
office visits Americans made each year.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Report *
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emailRecent Comments About 902,000,000
Just received a call from a
Just received a call from a friend who needs a "stump board" for her husband who has jsut had a leg amputated. She can't get it unless he sees his...
By Alan R : July 7, 2:22pm
As I've seen with my own
As I've seen with my own eyes, the practice of having patients make additional appointments and referring them to others is done by many doctors for...
By Susan C : July 9, 9:28am
The practice of "make another
The practice of "make another appointment please" is at the core of the problem. As is the practice of telling patients to take another pill....
By Chris R : September 2, 6:56am
Comments
Submitted by Chris R : September 2, 10:56am
The practice of "make another appointment please" is at the core of the problem. As is the practice of telling patients to take another pill. Polypharmacy and the resulting adverse effects (AE) account for 80-90% of the emergency room visits by seniors. They have no education about HOW to take their medications to avoid AE and I have seen doctor's orders and recommendations from pharmacists in local drug stores that put seniors at even higher risk. TV commercials pushing the newest and most expensive medications, promising miracle cures is yet another way seniors are pulled into the ever increasing number of injuries and fatalaties related to polypharmacy. Seeing how all this is inter-related makes me feel that instead of throwing money at the problem, perhaps we should make the money harder to get. By HIRING doctors and giving them bonuses for keeping patients healthy seems to be a better option than making insurance fraud so scintillating.
Submitted by Susan C : July 9, 1:28pm
As I've seen with my own eyes, the practice of having patients make additional appointments and referring them to others is done by many doctors for patients both on and off Medicare.
Almost 15 years ago I asked my husband to change doctors after sitting in the waiting room during 1 of his visits. Every patient, including my husband, that saw the doctor during the hour and a half I sat there had to make a follow-up visit. While I understand that follow-ups are necessary for some I doubt that 100% of a doctors patient list needs them.
And knowing that a single person can account for several office visits, anyone got a number for how many different people actually have doctor office visits?
Submitted by Alan R : July 7, 6:22pm
Just received a call from a friend who needs a "stump board" for her husband who has jsut had a leg amputated. She can't get it unless he sees his primary Doctor first. REASON?? (and this is my opinion) Another office call = another bill to Medicare.
Doctors have figured out that, in order to increase revenue, schedule more appointments. Schedule more tests. And then refer paitents to other doctors....for more tests and appointments. It's a round robin sceme to increase billing to Medicare.