Physicians and insurance

If  you haven't been in our office during the last month, you won't know that  I am currently using a walker because my decrepit old right leg, injured 40 years ago is getting weaker. I have been taking tests and  x-rays to help determine the  problem.

How a patient is treated often is determined the type of insurance that they have. For instance, I called a doctor's office today and asked about having an MRI. The office person told me that because I have Medicare  (as well as a full private insurance policy just like the majority of people reading this blog) I do not need a prior approval to have an MRI if my physician believes that I need one.

There are Physiatrists in NYC that will offer better options than Physiatrists in the Capital District because their patient WANT treatment that is NOT covered by insurance.

Is that how we should be treated. Is THAT a standard of excellence?

In my office, our patients are provided with the best option to fix a tooth that preserves the most amount of natural tooth structure without regard to how much money that I earn from it. The vast majority of my patients do NOT receive the most expensive option of a crown because it the most DESTRUCTIVE way to fix a tooth. YES, I would earn the most money to place a crown on your tooth but YOU would pay a heavy price for that crown 25  years down the road.

We should treat our patients as if they are our family...Not by what an insurance company pays or how much money the doctor can earn.

But by doing what is best and right for the patient.