Patients often trust they are getting personalized advice from their health care providers, yet that is not always the case, a new consumer handout sheet warns.
“Hospitals and health systems are quietly swallowing up private medical practices,” states a handout published on April 3 by the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF). “Once independent physicians are now controlled by corporate profit models, government programs, and insurance mandates.”
The document, “Is Your Doctor Independent?” offers 12 questions patients can ask health care providers to help identify where their allegiances rest.
“[D]octors are told what treatments to offer, what words they can use, and which patients they can see,” the handout states.
Doctors may have to follow certain protocols and may not be working in a patient’s best interest, the document says.
Patient Protection
The idea for the guidance sheet arose from an inquiry from a reader.
“We received an email from a woman asking us how she would know if a clinic was independent,” CCHF cofounder and president Twila Brase told Health Care News. “We saw her question as an opportunity to create a helpful handout for her and others. We believe it is the first of its kind. I have not seen another like it.”
Brase says her organization offers a growing number of “Helpful Handouts,” which are downloadable and free of charge. Patients can find them by going to CCHF’s website, cchfreedom.org, and clicking on “Helpful Handouts.”
The handout on doctors’ independence suggests questions patients might not otherwise think to ask, such as, “is my doctor required to use ‘step therapy,’” a practice that directs providers to try the cheapest drug first before going to one that may be more effective.
Other questions concern treatment rationing; use of ivermectin and other drugs “off label”; whether the clinic accepts Medicare, Medicaid, or Obamacare payment; financial incentives to push one treatment over another; and privacy of medical records.
Confrontation Concerns
Patients may be reluctant to confront their health care providers, given how personal health care can be. Brase offers some advice on that.
“The tone and demeanor of the patient may determine the staff’s willingness to answer,” says Brase. “We always encourage [patients to be] kind but firm. As the handout indicates, current and prospective patients can ask one or more questions before they use the clinic or during their visit.”
Defensiveness among caregivers can be a red flag, says Brase.
“The staff’s willingness to answer one or more of these questions will be a testimony to their belief in full transparency,” said Brase. “Every patient has a right to know whether the clinic or the doctor may have conflicts of interest with the patient due to third-party influence. Asking the questions may also put the doctor and clinic on notice in ways they’ve not been on notice before.”
CCHF also offers another helpful handout called “Discharge Instructions.”
“It is meant to help them protect themselves from coercive situations in the exam room,” said Brase. “There are six sections. The first one is a list of questions to ask the doctor or practitioner. The next two deal with patient privacy rights,” an area Brase says is often a source of confusion for patients.
AnneMarie Schieber ([email protected]) is the managing editor of Health Care News.
