"Physical therapy is not a subspecialty of the medical profession and physical therapists are not medical doctors; we are a separate profession that provides a unique service that physicians are unable and untrained to provide."

Letter to the AMA from the APTA, Dec 2009

Friday, December 3, 2010

Do Physicians Make Decisions Based on Financial Factors?

Dr. Gerald Chodak of Medscape questions that treatment decisions made by urologists who own the equipment and do intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for localized prostate cancer may be influenced by financial factors.

Dr. Chodak says,
"For physicians who do radical prostatectomies, the net profit is between $2,000 and $3,000, depending on who is paying for it.

Active surveillance doesn't pay nearly as well."
Dr. Chodak recommends a "constant fee" - no matter how the patient is treated.

I wonder how a constant fee would work for physical therapists?

See the page and the doctor's comments at Medscape.com.
Posted by Unknown at 11:20 AM
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1 comment:

  1. Leon RichardJanuary 13, 2011 at 8:36 PM

    How about a constant fee for the guy down the street who runs a restaraunt? Are you going to want to eat there? I don't think any of us would. The food would be cold, small serving sizes, and generally the repair of the place would be awful. And they may not have a cook, as he returned to school to study dentistry because he was going broke as a cook.

    :)

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