My Canadian doctor bills the government insurance provider for each and every visit just like a US doctor bills his host of insurance providers. He’s not on any salary if that’s where you are going with this.
Neither are most NHS providers. Way, way back (ending in about 1970 I think), doctors were employed directly by the NHS. Nowadays, medical practices are private enterprises, and the practice gets paid per patient by the NHS.
It’s a very equitable system; patients choose their doctors, and if too many people choose the same doctor the level of patient care drops and some patients will go to other doctors with more capacity.
But if I’m not mistaken, they’re paid by patient, not per visit. So, the doctor will receive the same payment for a registered patient who never visits him and for a registered patient who comes every other day.
Or am I mistaking the UK system for some other country’s?
(For the record, in France, you pay for your visit and are reimbursed later by the UHC system)
Well, that’s no longer strictly true, thanks to a 2006 overhaul which rewards GPs for taking measures to get patients to come in (community awareness, leafleting and so on), but for the most part you’re right.
I guess I don’t understand what you mean by “French doctors don’t get paid”, though.
Is there anything from stopping an individual state from saying “Screw the AMA” and just coming up with their own standards for residencies and licencing foreign MDs to practice? I mean obviously these doctors would run into issues moving out-of-state, but other than that.
Isn’t medical school in India conducted entirely in English?
He means that French doctors are paid by the patient and the government reimburses the patient; it doesn’t pay the doctor directly like in the UK.
Oh. I get it now. :smack: