Background
Patients deserve to have an idea about doctors’ fees in advance. People ask a plumber or a builder for a quote before they make repairs. In much the same way, patients have a right to know and a responsibility to ask - before any proposed procedure - just how much it costs and what they might have to pay.
The AMA is campaigning to assist doctors to provide information to patients about doctors’ fees on time, every time. After all, its good practice and a sensible business move for doctors to tell patients in advance how much their fees are, and what they might expect to pay after claiming Medicare and private health insurance.
The AMA believes that to clearly understand the gap, patients must know the benefit paid by their health fund and the fee charged by their doctor.
Informed financial consent is necessary, but it will work best if it is voluntary and if all the players – health insurance funds, doctors and patients – work together as a team.
Through planned strategies and a team approach, the AMA is confident it can achieve a significantly higher IFC rate for all private in-patient elective medical services bu July 2007. Our focus will be to:
- Provide better information to patients on informed financial consent.
- Promote better awareness for patients of informed financial consent.
- Build partnerships that support informed financial consent.
- Implement targeted strategies in key areas to improve informed financial consent.
The campaign is called Let's Talk About Fees, and it's as simple as that - talking. We want doctors to inform their patients of the cost of the care they will be providing, and we want the patients to ask about fees and costs. It's a two-way street.