If you want to know why you are getting more physician bills with meds on them, it’s simple – physician dispensing generates big profits.
There are currently at least 18 firms promoting their ability to help physicians maximize profits by dispensing medications. From one site comes this pitch:
“The Profit Projections Chart below shows how participation in our customized MD DispenseIT™ program can provide practicing physicians with a 30-50% increase in their Medical Practice Profits™”
This is of particular interest to workers comp payers.
A thanks to George Furlong for the heads-up.
Just be careful not to tar all situations with the same brush. In oncology, doctors are starting to add physician dispensing, as the pipeline holds more oral oncology products. However, there is almost no profit in oncology practice physician dispensing. Practices are starting to add dispensing, however, because the toxicity of cancer treatment, whether the orals are for treatment or side effects, makes it essential that the oncologist track patient compliance and even source of the drugs. We have seen too much counterfeiting and mishandling of delicate oncology drugs to trust patient survival and treatment to mass mailings and secondary wholesalers.
Interesting and thought-provoking post, Joe!
Dawn’s insights notwithstanding (I have no reason to doubt her assertions), I still see no problem with physicians earning extra $$ dispensing appropriate meds.
This is of a piece with the general move within the provider community to offer more “value added services;” to help shore up revenue lost when Medicare & UHC and BX (and the other usual suspects) keep lowering reimbursement costs.
As long as the patient isn’t hurt (physically or financially), where’s the beef?
The problem is not with physicians earning profits by dispensing appropriate medications. The problem is the extreme markup above retail reimbursement rates that WC payors are subject to for these medications with no significant value added benefit