# I Pit Practice Management Fees **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 21, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802 "2016-01-21T18:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/21 "2016-01-23T03:56:53Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My patients must provide proof of their convictions before I will see them. 😃 So do you mean to say that your patients will lie, cheat and steal, commit bodily harm or bloody murder to be seen by you? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/22 "2016-01-23T04:06:01Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If the OP has insurance through work, it’s an HR matter. It’s possible the doctor’s contract with the insurance company forbids fees like the OP is complaining about. Assuming that the doctor has a contract with the insurance company ( and he may not) , the OP needs to take it up with the insurance company, not his employer’s HR people. But if they’re telling him to take it up with the provider, I’m guessing there is no contract forbidding this fee. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/23 "2016-01-23T05:09:40Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My patients must provide proof of their convictions before I will see them. 😃 I would think that just being able to see you would be proof enough. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/24 "2016-01-23T05:14:45Z")
Am I mathematically retarded, or does a panel of 2000 patients at 200 bucks a head work out to $400,000 a year? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/25 "2016-01-23T06:59:31Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Pretty much that. You don’t need fucking medication every time you have sniffles. > > YOU are the reason we have both overuse of antibiotics and AB resistant drugs. No, the \*\*doctor \*\*is the reason. Many people go to the doctor when they get sick. The doctor isn’t forced to prescribe antibiotics to people without bacterial infections, he CHOSE to do so. ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/26 "2016-01-23T13:57:25Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > Am I mathematically retarded, or does a panel of 2000 patients at 200 bucks a head work out to $400,000 a year? Math is good. Forgot to mention, $125 single, $200 family. And, again, the drug request thingy was just an example. I couldn’t immediately think of a generic way of presenting it. I usually only go in when I need an excuse for work. Once or twice a year? Maybe? So this $200 fee is especially galling considering the level of professional “treatment” I’m receiving. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/27 "2016-01-23T14:32:07Z")
You only go in to see your Dr to get excuse notes for work and you wonder why they want to charge you $200? Has it occurred to you maybe you’re not the kind of patient they want? Maybe they actually only sent out the letters to patients they would prefer go elsewhere. Note seekers, the non compliant, etc! ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/28 "2016-01-23T14:37:55Z")
Guys. “Sniffles” can be “sinus infection” and a Z-pack for a sinus infection is perfectly reasonable. If my face hurts and I can’t breathe and I go to the doctor and they say “yep, you have a sinus infection, you need antibiotics”, it doesn’t make me a bad person to take them. And if it’s not a sinus infection–if my doctor is prescribing me antibiotics I don’t need because she thinks patients need to go home with something–that’s on her for practicing bad medicine, not on me for trusting her (flawed) judgment. Jesus. When did it become part of the social contract that you couldn’t go to the doctor unless you’d first decided what you had? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/29 "2016-01-23T14:40:51Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > You only go in to see your Dr to get excuse notes for work and you wonder why they want to charge you $200? Has it occurred to you maybe you’re not the kind of patient they want? Maybe they actually only sent out the letters to patients they would prefer go elsewhere. Note seekers, the non compliant, etc! “To get an excuse note” doesn’t imply an illicit excuse. If you have an employer that insists on a doctor’s note if you miss 2 days in a row, you have to go to the doctor even when you probably don’t need medical care (say, a mild flu) to get professional verification that you really can’t work. How is that being a bad patient? ---
**Author:** ![IDtenT\_Error](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@IDtenT\_Error](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IDtenT_Error)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/30 "2016-01-23T15:34:38Z")
> [@Billdo](#): > > So do you mean to say that your patients will lie, cheat and steal, commit bodily harm or bloody murder to be seen by you? Yes, he’s just that damn good! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/31 "2016-01-23T18:12:15Z")
> [@IDtenT\_Error](#): > > Yes, he’s just that damn good! I don’t know. I bet most of his patients would jump at the chance to see a doctor in the next town over. ;)😃 ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/32 "2016-01-24T04:22:35Z")
My GP did the same thing, so despite the fact he’s been our GP for something like 25 years, we are gone. Dunno how long it will be until he’s replaced tho, since we rarely need to see him. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/33 "2016-01-24T15:19:56Z")
> [@4d3fect](#): > > They’re going to try to stick us with $200 a year on top of all the co pays, etc, because reasons. Unless this is a concierge service, a practice management fee is probably against the agreement that doctor has with your insurance company, if s/he is in-network. Contact the insurance company and tell them she’s doing this. Send them the letter (or a copy of it) while you’re at it. Folks, don’t pay these fees blindly to doctors if they are in-network in your insurance company. They violate every participating insurance agreement I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/34 "2016-01-24T15:24:51Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > What the hell does your employer’s HR department have to do with your GP? If the insurance is paid for by the employer, and/or the company is self-insured, the HR department can contact the insurance company to have them look for all of their employees who might use this doctor, and the insurance company can tell the doc that under the in-network contract, an annual fee is NOT permitted and to tell those patients they do not have to pay. Doing this for all employees at once will save time, administratively. It also alerts the insurance company that this doc is getting creative with her finances, and they might review her claims a little more closely. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/35 "2016-01-24T15:28:59Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Maybe you should stop pointlessly taking antibiotics when you have a cold while you’re at it. You and **Chimera** don’t know that what is being described is a cold; I don’t understand why you are both immediately assuming that antibiotic abuse is going on. I refer to sinusitis (“sinus infection”) as “the sniffles” so I don’t sound overly-dramatic. Antibiotics are appropriate for a sinus infection. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/36 "2016-01-25T18:19:42Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > What the hell does your employer’s HR department have to do with your GP? They have something to do with the insurance payment that comes out of my check that precludes me having to pay a fee just to stay on a doctor’s roster. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802/37 "2016-01-25T18:30:12Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > They have something to do with the insurance payment that comes out of my check that precludes me having to pay a fee just to stay on a doctor’s roster. The OP said he already spoke to the employer and insurance company - and the response was > [@](#): > > Done, they say, to paraphrase, “take it up with your health care provider” Which suggests that either - 1) the provider does not have a contract with the insurance company - not all do, even those who accept what the insurance pays as payment in full or 2) the contract doesn’t prohibit this fee. In any event, the employer doesn’t have a contract with the doctor, the insurance company possibly does - and the insurance company would handle any violations. All HR could do is call the insurance company. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-practice-management-fees/743802.md?page=1)