2 Options for Psychiatry Without the Insurance Hassles

Anthony Carter

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• Publié par: seorumer
• Publié le: 12 janvier 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• Langue: English

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2 Options for Psychiatry Without the Insurance Hassles A 2014 piece published by Dr. Dinah Miller on the KevinMD website stated that many psychiatrists in private practice do not accept private health insurance. In fact, Dr. Miller went so far as to say that psychiatry is the specialty with the greatest incidence of not accepting medical insurance. This leads to two questions: why, and what can psychiatrists do about it?

The why question is relatively easy to answer. Psychiatry is not treated by health insurance companies the same way most other specialties are. Insurance company representatives and psychiatrists are constantly disagreeing over what kinds of services are necessary, who should provide them, and who should pay for them. It all boils down to the amount of hassle the psychiatrist and his/her office must go through just to get paid. Doctors are better off saving themselves the headaches by requiring cash payments. As for what psychiatrists can do about it, there are two options: transition to locum tenens work or take a job as an employed psychiatrist at a hospital or group-owned practice. Let's explore both options.

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Locum Tenens Psychiatry Psychiatry jobs within the locum tenens sphere are plentiful. They may not be as plentiful as jobs for family medicine doctors and internists, but there are still not enough locum psychiatrists to meet the demand. Any psychiatrist wanting to close a private practice to move into locum tenens work would have no problem remaining gainfully employed. Locum tenens work offers a very lucrative pay model that eliminates insurance from the equation. In other words, the doctor gets paid by the facility utilizing his or her services. It is up to the facility to make its own policies regarding acceptance of health insurance. No matter what happens with any individual patient regarding his or her ability to pay, the psychiatrist still collects a weekly paycheck. There are additional hassles of private practice that are eliminated through locum work. Everything from running an office to all the accounting required by private practice simply disappears when a doctor goes locum. Becoming an Employed Psychiatrist It goes without saying that some doctors are just not comfortable with the locum concept. Either they don't like to travel, or they are not comfortable working essentially as self-employed doctors. That's fine. Psychiatrists in that position can always apply for permanent jobs. The same benefit of not having to deal with health insurance applies. The downside of becoming an employed psychiatrist is having to deal with the politics of institutional medicine. Let's face it; working in a large metropolitan hospital is decidedly different than being the owner of a practice. As an employee, you are no longer in charge. You're expected to put the interests of your employer and patients first regardless of how it affects you. On the other hand, the employed psychiatrist does not have to worry about the business end of running a private practice. He or she still has the opportunity to practice medicine without having to worry about hiring and firing, paying taxes, paying rent, and so on. The Market Is Wide Open It is unfortunate that America's health insurance system has become so convoluted as to discourage private practice psychiatrists from participating. But the upside is that the market is wide open for both locum tenens and employed doctors who no longer wish to practice privately. Locum tenens work and employed psychiatry are both worth looking at for any doctor who is growing tired of private practice. Both options eliminate the insurance hassles while still allowing the doctor to continue doing what he or she loves to do.

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