4 ms·

This. It isn't the Doctors responsibility to know all the prices of things and such, they should know what meds you need for your ailment. I would say it woul

This. It isn't the Doctors responsibility to know all the prices of things and such, they should know what meds you need for your ailment. I would say it would be good if your doctor found out about something (via a pharmaceutical rep or another patient) to pass that along, but not sure it makes sense for them to necessarily know the ends and outs of the current best coupon.

cpuguy83 3y ago
I disagree. A doctor better understand the economic impact the drugs they are prescribing to their patient.
- Johnny555 3y ago
  Medical pricing is so hopelessly complicated that few doctors can even tell you what a procedure at they perform themselves at their own hospital will cost you. I don’t know how they could keep up with pricing for thousands of drugs interacting with formularies across hundreds of insurance plans.
  - not_a_shill 3y ago
    At least on the Rx side, it's really not that hard to have a general idea. Youre prescribing mostly the same medication over and over and patients give feedback, so knowing a general discount card price isn't difficult. If the patient has a weird formulary or a high deductible, that's on them to understand.
- homero 3y ago
  Doctors couldn't get pricing even if they wanted to.
LazyMans 3y ago
A good doctor should be considering how to get the best outcome for a patient, availability and affordability is paramount if you intend to get a patient to follow through with a treatment. No, it's not the doctors "job" to make sure you can get your medication, but I don't think it's hard to argue a doctor that takes these things into consideration is better than one that lives in a bubble.
- zdragnar 3y ago
  For run of the mill meds, my doctors haven't mentioned considering price, but for an autoimmune issue that required very expensive medication, my doctor helped me participate in a manufacturers program that covered anything my insurance wouldn't over $50 a month. As it turned out, my insurance wouldn't cover it at all, because they wanted me to try a cheaper, older medicine that had a much worse list of potential side effects. If it hadn't been for my doctor, I wouldn't have known about the aid program or to enroll in it (technically, it was through a separate, non-profit legal entity, but it still has the manufacturs name in it).
- Chris2048 3y ago
  Should they do your taxes too?
  - thecyborganizer 3y ago
    Dr. H. Jack Geiger famously wrote prescriptions for groceries out of his clinic in Mississippi - when challenged on the practice, he replied, "Yeah, well, the last time I looked in my medical textbooks, they said the specific therapy for malnutrition was food." The best doctors understand that a patient is an entire person, not just some specific problem or disease. Sometimes that means considering factors in their life other than the obvious direct medical causes of their problems. Sometimes that might include the availability of treatments, based on cost or location. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Jack_Geiger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Jack_Geiger https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/health/h-jack-geiger-dead.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/health/h-jack-geiger-dead...
    - Chris2048 3y ago
      Famous because it's folksy nonsense, not because it pioneered medicine. > Sometimes that might include the availability of treatments this is about coupons. your doctor won't help you write your resume, even if they could and it would help you afford medicine in the future. That isn't their domain. Doctors are specialists.

cpuguy83 3y ago

I disagree. A doctor better understand the economic impact the drugs they are prescribing to their patient.

Johnny555 3y ago
Medical pricing is so hopelessly complicated that few doctors can even tell you what a procedure at they perform themselves at their own hospital will cost you. I don’t know how they could keep up with pricing for thousands of drugs interacting with formularies across hundreds of insurance plans.
- not_a_shill 3y ago
  At least on the Rx side, it's really not that hard to have a general idea. Youre prescribing mostly the same medication over and over and patients give feedback, so knowing a general discount card price isn't difficult. If the patient has a weird formulary or a high deductible, that's on them to understand.
homero 3y ago
Doctors couldn't get pricing even if they wanted to.

LazyMans 3y ago

A good doctor should be considering how to get the best outcome for a patient, availability and affordability is paramount if you intend to get a patient to follow through with a treatment. No, it's not the doctors "job" to make sure you can get your medication, but I don't think it's hard to argue a doctor that takes these things into consideration is better than one that lives in a bubble.

zdragnar 3y ago
For run of the mill meds, my doctors haven't mentioned considering price, but for an autoimmune issue that required very expensive medication, my doctor helped me participate in a manufacturers program that covered anything my insurance wouldn't over $50 a month. As it turned out, my insurance wouldn't cover it at all, because they wanted me to try a cheaper, older medicine that had a much worse list of potential side effects. If it hadn't been for my doctor, I wouldn't have known about the aid program or to enroll in it (technically, it was through a separate, non-profit legal entity, but it still has the manufacturs name in it).
Chris2048 3y ago
Should they do your taxes too?
- thecyborganizer 3y ago
  Dr. H. Jack Geiger famously wrote prescriptions for groceries out of his clinic in Mississippi - when challenged on the practice, he replied, "Yeah, well, the last time I looked in my medical textbooks, they said the specific therapy for malnutrition was food." The best doctors understand that a patient is an entire person, not just some specific problem or disease. Sometimes that means considering factors in their life other than the obvious direct medical causes of their problems. Sometimes that might include the availability of treatments, based on cost or location. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Jack_Geiger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Jack_Geiger https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/health/h-jack-geiger-dead.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/health/h-jack-geiger-dead...
  - Chris2048 3y ago
    Famous because it's folksy nonsense, not because it pioneered medicine. > Sometimes that might include the availability of treatments this is about coupons. your doctor won't help you write your resume, even if they could and it would help you afford medicine in the future. That isn't their domain. Doctors are specialists.