Doctors and dentists' price lists ?

N

N0elC

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What ever happened to [broken link removed] for doctors and dentists to publish their pricelists?

Has it just died a death completely ?

Its a real pity if it has.
 
Seemingly it has been [broken link removed].

As it happens, my own GP posts his charges in the surgery waiting room but I guess this is as his own discretion. Bear in mind that even if price lists are not displayed people are still free to shop around (e.g. by phoning around) for such services.
 
Thanks for that ClubMan. It looks like it was just too much effort for the powers that be to rattle the cages of such a vocal community, with an election coming up soon.

Pity not all politicians are of the calibre of Mary Harney. She wouldn't have taken the matter lying down, if she was still the Minister in charge for that area.
 
How would this work - A fixed price for a 10 minute consultation? You won't mind the Doc kicking off the stop-clock as soon as the patient comes in the door then? Will we all be rushing to get our BP checked before the 10 minutes is up? Will those suffering from depression have to pour out all their woes in 10 minutes?

Pity not all politicians are of the calibre of Mary Harney. She wouldn't have taken the matter lying down, if she was still the Minister in charge for that area.
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Poor Mary - She had a mere 8 years to implement this at Dept of Enterprise. But you're right - her current role has little to do with doctors....
 
A colleague of mine who recently had a very short consultation with his GP haggled over the price on the basis that the length of the consultation did not merit full whack - and he got a discount. Ask and you may receive.
 
Rainyday said:

How would this work - A fixed price for a 10 minute consultation? You won't mind the Doc kicking off the stop-clock as soon as the patient comes in the door then? Will we all be rushing to get our BP checked before the 10 minutes is up? Will those suffering from depression have to pour out all their woes in 10 minutes?
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Displaying prices seems to work for dentists in the UK well, without any sign of a clock watch. Just because something is hard to implement doesn't mean to say that its not worth doing. We need more price transparency in this country, so patients can make an educated choice.

Your cheap jibe at Mary Harney is only to be expected from a Labour party stalwart. I'm not a member of any political party, but firmly think that Harney has done an excellent job in the Enterprise portfolio, opening up much competition in our relativeley closed society.

Let's hope she can do the same in Health ! We deserve a much better Health service, given the amount of money we pay for it.
 
Will those suffering from depression have to pour out all their woes in 10 minutes?

Actually, once the initial diagnosis of depression or similar illness is made then the patient will usually be referred to an appropriately trained counsellor/therapist who will deal in more depth with the problem often using hourly sessions for a period of weeks or as long as necessary. GPs are not generally trained to do open ended counselling for such patients.
 
Hi Noel - In relation to Ms Harney, I'd love to hear more concrete examples of the areas where she has opened up competition and we have price reductions for the consumer as a result. And seriously, if this was a priority issue, isn't 8 years in the relevant Ministry enough time to have made some progress on it?

But back to the core issue - I didn't say or imply that it wouldn't work - I simply asked the question as to how it would work. I guess it is slightly different for dentists as they have a fairly clearly defined list of treatments. Could you (or anyone) post an example of what a GP's price list might look like?
 
Doctors Price List:

Labour (no pun intended): €330.00 per hour.
Parts: Cost + ?% charge


What is so different from any other service provider?

Dentists will sometimes specify charge for their treatment i.e labour, and the "parts" used i.e. gold posts etc., seperately.
 
What is so different from any other service provider?
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For a start, the fact that consultations are almost certainly a matter of minutes, not hours. Are you proposing a per-minute fee?
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

And why not?

I go in for a repeat prescription, Doctor writes it, it takes 4 minutes, doctor should charge me:
A) €60 for a "visit", or
b) his hourly rate / 60 x 4.

I go in for a flu jab, takes 4 minutes, ditto above cost of (parts) ************************** mark-up (for storage, admin, etc......)

I go in and want a full physical for insurance purposes. Doc takes 3/4 hour to examine and report. Cost = hourly rate x .75.

Never having been to a "shrink" but from anecdotal evidence the session lasts a specified time and once that has elapsed you are out on your ear...

Whats so unfair about these scenario's?
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

I go in for a repeat prescription, Doctor writes it, it takes 4 minutes, doctor should charge me:

My GP doesn't charge for repeat prescriptions or, often, follow up visits to an original consultation if they don't take that long. I have attended other doctors in the past who charged for every visit, not matter how trivial or short (e.g. when collecting test results). I get the impression that my doctor's approach would not be the norm but it does sugggest that there are doctors out there that operate on this basis if people were inclined to shop around and find them where possible.
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

Do you reckon all patients will be comfortable with the Doc starting the timer as the patient enters? How many subtle symptoms or root causes will be missed as either Doc or patient rushes through a consultation?
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

The practice I am familiar with charges 40 euro for the first visit,then 20 euro for a follow up and nil for a third visit related to the same problem.If people feel they have been seen recently about the same problem,they should say so and expect to receive a reduction on second and subsequent consultations pertaining to the same problem.One may easily see how a GP might get peeved off by a private patient who waits to come until they have a litany of issues and the whole surgery runs over.
My wife and I recently attended a dentist and paid 160 euro between the 2 of us for examinations and cleanings.When I rang the dental association of Ireland ,they said they had no control over pricing arrangements nor power to instruct publication of lists.I did ring re prices prior to appt but i could not remember what they had quoted albeit it didn't sound like is was going to be so exhorbitant.We let it go this time.
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

If people feel they have been seen recently about the same problem,they should say so and expect to receive a reduction on second and subsequent consultations pertaining to the same problem.

Good point.
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

How about requiring you to undergo procedures that you don't need, don't want and making you pay for them?

The last time I visited a certain dentist (all I required was simply to get my teeth cleaned by the dental hygenist), I was told that it was compulsory to see the dentist also who examined my teeth (not necessary, had been done only a few months earlier) and took x-rays (most definately not necessary) and charged me well for the privilege. (I did not require a full check-up which had taken place only a few months previously)

Needless to say Im taking my custom elsewhere.
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

What I think is most telling from the original Irish Times report, cited by ClubMan, above, is a comment from an unnamed Labour party spokesman:

"it would seem unbelievable not to require medical professionals to display their prices in common with other sectors."

I think that about sums it up.
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

I think that about sums it up.
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Hi Noel - The great advantage of AAM over the usual media reports is the ability to drill into greater detail and go beyond the bland platitudes usually issued in press releases from all parties. Are you just going to ignore the possible downsides of these approaches which I mentioned above or can we have a sensible discussion and see if we can find some solutions?
 
Re: Doctors & Dentists' pricelists?

I had to visit the family doctor recently with one of the kids and doctor informs me that he was increasing the cost of the visit as the other doctors had agreed to increase theirs. Is this evidence of price fixing or cartel or what? Its not as if I can go next door as they have all agreed to up the prices. They have us across a barrel. With 3 young kids we visit doctor once every 3-4 weeks so it adds up to a substantial sum by end of year, I could do with some competition in this area.
 
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