A good question was asked recently: “Does not taking insurance make you a better doctor”.
The answer is yes.
It is not because doctors that don’t take insurance have more skill, or are smarter, or have better access to technology.
It is because they get to spend a lot longer with their patients. When you have a lot longer to listen to your patients and explain things, the care is usually better.
In the standard insurance model, visits are 15 minutes, with half of that time for billing (some call this charting).
In the standard insurance model, visits are 15 minutes, with half of that time for billing (some call this charting). Click To Tweet
7 Minutes of Facetime does not leave anytime to educate the patient adequately or take care of multiple problems. It allows for a quick diagnosis of one problem, treatment plan with little discussion, and then out the door. It is the best you can get in 7 minutes.
You can’t compress visits down to that short amount of time without losing quality, it doesn’t matter if you are the best physician in the world.
You can't compress visits down to that short amount of time without losing quality, it doesn't matter if you are the best physician in the world. Click To Tweet
Without insurance, overhead is much lower which means that patient volume needs to be much less.
Less patient volume means more time spent with each patient and usually equates to better care.
If you have ever experienced a doctor spending time with you and listening then you know what I mean.
Conversely, if you have ever waited at the doctor’s office for an hour only to be seen for 7 minutes where no one listened to you, then you also know what I mean.
