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Absolutely. I work in HIT for small to medium size practices. We all know how badly insurance is treating us as patients, but what’s not as well known is how mu

Absolutely. I work in HIT for small to medium size practices. We all know how badly insurance is treating us as patients, but what’s not as well known is how much they squeeze medical providers (example [1]). Hospitals and networks have the weight to navigate insurance, but small independent offices don’t and are also getting absolutely fucked over. In addition to staffing issues, rising operational costs, excessive demand, slow turn around in receipts, rising complexity in software and regulatory compliance, a lot of local doctors are selling to networks and hospitals or just straight up closing doors. Large entities absorb all the same problems primarily by economies of scale which can result in poor individual care, increased out of pocket costs, amongst other things. [1] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/15/1193754380/why-doctors-pay-millions-in-fees-that-could-be-spent-on-care https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/15/1193754...

TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
> local doctors are selling to networks and hospitals My primary care physician did this a couple of years ago. He still works at the practice and I still see him. When I asked him why he sold, he said he wants to do what he loves - practice medicine - not spend most of his time working with insurance companies. The worst part is all my records from years of visiting him did not transfer to the new system. It’s as if I’ve been seeing him for 2 years instead of 10 because no one can access my old test results and records. So much for continuity of care. Now I download all documents in their portal and save locally.
TheNewsIsHere 3y ago
You’re not joking. There’s a major dental insurance carrier that finds it perfectly acceptable to “pay” dental offices with prepaid debit/credit cards. Think Greendot, Mastercard, or Visa prepaid cards. I’m fairly certain my dentistry firm is fighting back in ways I’m not comfortable sharing because I don’t know any facts and would just be speculating, but I do hope they’re sticking it to them.

TedDoesntTalk 3y ago

> local doctors are selling to networks and hospitals My primary care physician did this a couple of years ago. He still works at the practice and I still see him. When I asked him why he sold, he said he wants to do what he loves - practice medicine - not spend most of his time working with insurance companies. The worst part is all my records from years of visiting him did not transfer to the new system. It’s as if I’ve been seeing him for 2 years instead of 10 because no one can access my old test results and records. So much for continuity of care. Now I download all documents in their portal and save locally.

TheNewsIsHere 3y ago

You’re not joking. There’s a major dental insurance carrier that finds it perfectly acceptable to “pay” dental offices with prepaid debit/credit cards. Think Greendot, Mastercard, or Visa prepaid cards. I’m fairly certain my dentistry firm is fighting back in ways I’m not comfortable sharing because I don’t know any facts and would just be speculating, but I do hope they’re sticking it to them.