LET US TAKE CHARGE OF REFORMING HEALTHCARE -
PART VII
Reform proposal #4 started last week. Review HERE.
To continue . . . .
Most pharmaceutical ads use some
variation of this phrase; “ask your doctor about.”
In a better functioning health care system – one where independent Primary Care Physicians serve as gatekeepers – would direct to consumer advertising just be a waste of money?
And, if my PCP is independent, he/she would have no problem providing a ‘Financial
Disclosure Notice.’
Huh?
Well, ever since HIPAA, anyone even remotely involved in financial services is required to
provide a Notice of Privacy Practices. In that vein, perhaps it’s time for doctors to disclose payments from Pharma and the Health Systems that employ them.
The ‘Financial Disclosure Notice’ would also alert Joe
Lunchbucket that “Services are covered under most insurance plans only if they are medically necessary and referred by a Primary Care
Physician.”
We don’t have to wait for legislation or evolution; i.e., laws banning direct to consumer advertising, or for Joe LB (and me, for that matter!) to grow the spine needed to ask a doc how he/she gets
paid.
A free market could deliver Reform # 1 (Tip # 577) January 1 of 2024!
