Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

My case for no-fault medical care

Hans Duvefelt, MD
Physician
February 6, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share

As a physician with a strong sense of calling, I always see myself working for each patient, regardless of who pays the bill. Following in the footsteps of role models like Hippocrates and Osler, how could I do anything else?

Ted has been my patient for decades. He can’t seem to lose weight.

John has admitted he doesn’t know how long he can keep doing the kind of work that has supported his family until now.

Ted is a long distance truck driver. He needs a DOT physical. Because of the new requirements, he will probably need a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea. If he fails, he could lose his job, because we all want to feel safe on our highways.

John came in with back pain the other day. As I filled out the Workers Comp M-1 form, he sighed, “This may be it for me.”

John told me his back started hurting when he lifted a washing machine at work. As long as his employer’s workers compensation carrier doesn’t challenge the claim, he’s covered for medical costs, rehabilitation and disability income — possibly even for life. If it had happened at home, on his own time, he would not be entitled to anywhere near the same benefits.

Medicine is a very personal business. A trusted provider hears more than a stranger, and his or her words have more impact. Our patients assume we are there to help them. But sometimes we are put in a position of working for someone else, against our patients.

In Ted’s case, I won’t be the one to tell him that his job is on the line because of his obesity. When the new requirements and certifications for performing physicals for the Department of Transportation went into effect, I simply didn’t pursue them.

In John’s case, as the treating physician, I have to file regular reports with his employer’s insurance company, and every test or referral I want to make has to be approved by them. If I keep him out of work longer than they expect or prescribe more pain medication than the average situation requires, I get a call from an insurance company nurse whose job it is to bring my treatment in line with their expectations.

It is impossible to overlook the fact that his employer’s compensation carrier is trying to direct John’s care; they are the ones who pay me for each of his visits.

If other life circumstances happen while I am treating him for his back injury, I have to be very careful not to spend too much time talking about them. I certainly can’t put any of it in his record, since every comp visit goes to the insurance company for review. I have to constantly remind patients that a comp visit is a legal document, to be used in what amounts to a case of litigation.

If I could help it, I wouldn’t treat workers compensation cases for the same reason I don’t do DOT physicals: I never want to represent an authority or institution that can be seen as the opponent of patients I need to have a therapeutic relationship with.

If John’s comp carrier were to claim that since he went to the hospital emergency room with lower-back pain after a minor car accident ten years ago, he had a pre-existing back problem, his medical expenses could bankrupt him. He has a high-deductible health insurance. If he can’t go back to work, he will have 26 weeks of reduced-pay short-term disability benefits. After that, he’d have to apply for Social Security Disability, which could take several years.

ADVERTISEMENT

If Ted loses his DOT certificate, how can I be effective as his personal physician with my signature on the document that cost him his career? And if he were to commit suicide, like some middle-aged men who lose their jobs do, could I counsel and care for his wife and daughter?

I often think about my native Sweden in cases like these. I saw many things that frustrated me when I worked there after graduating from medical school, but they didn’t have one level of health and disability benefits for injured workers and little or no help for people who got hurt on their own time. That is a pretty arbitrary and inhumane way of stratifying health care.

If you’re hurt, you’re hurt, regardless of whose fault it is. (I’ll tell you about Sweden’s no-fault medical malpractice payments some other time.) And if you seek help from a doctor, you expect the doctor to be working with your best interest in mind. And if the society you live in doesn’t take good care of people who are sick or injured, you may have trouble accepting that your doctor is putting the good of “society” or “the system” before your most urgent needs to put food on your family’s table.

“A Country Doctor” is a family physician who blogs at A Country Doctor Writes:.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

If you go to medical school, you will be stressed. Bigly.

February 6, 2017 Kevin 12
…
Next

Basing medical care on patient satisfaction is as smart as basing school on child satisfaction

February 6, 2017 Kevin 31
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
If you go to medical school, you will be stressed. Bigly.
Next Post >
Basing medical care on patient satisfaction is as smart as basing school on child satisfaction

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Hans Duvefelt, MD

  • The art of asking where it hurts

    Hans Duvefelt, MD
  • Thinking like a plumber when adjusting medications

    Hans Duvefelt, MD
  • The American food conspiracy

    Hans Duvefelt, MD

Related Posts

  • More physician responsibility for patient care

    Michael R. McGuire
  • The health care system will cause its own physician shortage

    Advait Suvarnakar and Aashka Suvarnakar
  • Why medical students need more continuity of care training

    Nathaniel Fleming
  • Does socialized medical care provide higher quality than private care?

    Peter Ubel, MD
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • Major medical groups back mandatory COVID vaccine for health care workers

    Molly Walker

More in Physician

  • How market forces fracture millennial physicians’ careers

    Shannon Meron, MD
  • Unity in primary care: Why I believe physicians and NPs/PAs must work together toward the same goal

    Jerina Gani, MD, MPH
  • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

    Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD
  • How to balance clinical duties with building a startup

    Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
  • When life makes you depend on Depends

    Francisco M. Torres, MD
  • Implementing value-based telehealth pain management and substance misuse therapy service

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

      Kim Adelman, PhD | Conditions
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • When life makes you depend on Depends

      Francisco M. Torres, MD | Physician
    • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

      Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories

      Sriman Swarup, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Physician practice ownership: risks, rewards, and reality

      Paul Morton, CFP | Finance
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • How market forces fracture millennial physicians’ careers

      Shannon Meron, MD | Physician
    • What I learned about health care by watching who gets left behind

      Maanyata Mantri | Policy
    • Why palliative care is more than just end-of-life support

      Dr. Vishal Parackal | Conditions
    • Few people realize this common infection can cause serious complications [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Unity in primary care: Why I believe physicians and NPs/PAs must work together toward the same goal

      Jerina Gani, MD, MPH | Physician
    • My improbable survival of stage 4 cancer

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

      Kim Adelman, PhD | Conditions
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • When life makes you depend on Depends

      Francisco M. Torres, MD | Physician
    • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

      Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories

      Sriman Swarup, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Physician practice ownership: risks, rewards, and reality

      Paul Morton, CFP | Finance
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • How market forces fracture millennial physicians’ careers

      Shannon Meron, MD | Physician
    • What I learned about health care by watching who gets left behind

      Maanyata Mantri | Policy
    • Why palliative care is more than just end-of-life support

      Dr. Vishal Parackal | Conditions
    • Few people realize this common infection can cause serious complications [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Unity in primary care: Why I believe physicians and NPs/PAs must work together toward the same goal

      Jerina Gani, MD, MPH | Physician
    • My improbable survival of stage 4 cancer

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

My case for no-fault medical care
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...