The same doctors charge different fees depending on where you visit
DID you know the same doctor will charge you less in one clinic than they do in another? A survey of surgeons shows the difference can be as much as $80 a visit.
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EXCLUSIVE
HUGE out of pocket medical expenses are driving patients to free public hospitals.
Wealthy specialists last week held crisis talks on how to stop the problem from undermining their hefty incomes.
It comes as a new survey has found ear, nose and throat specialists are charging patients up to $250 more than the Medicare rebate for consultations. Patients in NSW are paying the highest prices in the country.
Analysis by Mind the Gap — a medical directory that compares doctors by price, location, and opening times — has found the average fee charged by ENT specialists is $213 while the Medicare rebate is just $72.
Mind the Gap called all 530 ENT practices in Australia between July and November and asked about their charges. Only 28 clinics refused to provide their fees, with Tasmanian doctors least likely to tell.
Nationally ENT specialists charged on average $212.99. In NSW the average charge was $239.52, WA $215.10, ACT $207.50, VIC $204.84 NT $198.75, QLD $183.50, TAS $174.
Even more interesting: sometimes the same doctor charges different fees in different offices.
More than 110 ENT doctors operate out of multiple practice locations and 28 charge different amounts for the same consultation at each location.
This is never disclosed over the phone unless explicitly asked for, said Mind the Gap co-ordinator James Gillespie.
The medico with biggest difference was Dr Jason Roth who charges $320 for an initial consultation in his Macquarie Street offices but just $240 for the same consultation in Dee Why, Mind the Gap found. Calls to both were not returned.
The website has previously compared fees for IVF services, orthodontists and dermatologists.
Out of pocket medical expenses have now got so high patients are abandoning the private system and doctors are worried because it hurts their incomes.
Australian Medical Association president Dr Michael Gannon said nearly 40 per cent of babies used to be delivered in the private system, now less than 30 per cent are.
Unlike hip and knee replacements for which there are long waiting lists in public hospitals, pregnant women must be treated on demand; the saving can be as much as $10,000 compared to the private system.
Insurers fear if people don’t take out cover early in life to have a baby they may never buy it. The problem is also affecting demand for private hospital beds.
The Australian Medical Association, the Royal Australian College Surgeons and other medical groups last week held crisis meetings over the situation.
“We understand how annoying and disturbing patients find the dribble of bills after an episode of care,” Dr Gannon said.
“We are very conscious of the need for greater fee transparency and we are kee to work constructively towards that,” he said.
However, he said doctors did not like the idea of patients being given a single price for a bundle of care nor was he enthusiastic about websites listing doctors fees.
Out of pocket expenses for specialists have also been rising because of a five year freeze on Medicare rebates which are stuck at 2012 levels.
Health funds that have information on in-hospital charges by doctors have been fearful that publishing league tables of fees could raise rather than lower medical charges.
There have been cases where undercharging doctors raised their fees when they saw what their high charging competitors asked patients to pay.
Without information about a doctor’s success rates patients think the best doctors are the ones who charge the most. Performance data shows the opposite is sometimes true.
Mr Gillespie says he doesn’t think this is a problem and he hopes his service won’t push up doctors fees.
Head and neck surgeons perform tonsillectomies, inset grommets to deal with ear problems, handle head and neck cancers, and nose and sinus problems.