These.
companies' earnings continue to skyrocket, and the HMO executives are always on the lookout for ways to increase profits by.
reducing care to their members. It is troubling that while cost remains nearly the same, the deficiency in quality service continues.
to increase. .
Most of the money generated by FFS insurance goes directly to patient care and physicians' salaries. In recent years, the idea.
of physician owned clinics has gained new ground in the industry. A group of doctors band together to create their own private.
corporation. These businesses, being privately owned, have the luxury of not having to deal with the fiscal demands of.
stockholders and other investors. Thus, the doctors have the ability to use the generated funds to care for their patients. Yet.
with volume purchasing of gauze, needles, and other medicating implements, they are able to compete favorably with the.
HMOs. .
Part of the monies generated by HMOs is used to pay stockholder dividends; the demands of the investors must be met. In.
1994 salaries and stock awards to the heads of the seven largest HMOs averaged $7 million each. Shareholder-owned.
companies saw earnings increase by as much as 20 percent each quarter ("News"). Because of this, the corporation rather than.
the physician becomes the patient care decision maker. In other words, the medical decision making process is subject to.
approval by a board of directors. In some cases these individuals go to great lengths to save money. For instance, some HMO.
doctors are forced to sign a "gag order," which forbids them to advise their patients about expensive medical care which their.
HMO does not want to pay for. Doctors may actually be penalized by their HMOs because, in violation of a gag order, they.
discussed with their patients the option for a procedure the HMO did not want to pay for. Equally maddening is that HMOs.
sometimes give their doctors financial bonuses for not ordering tests or referring their patients to specialists.