I'm sure they will give YOU the personal option of paying through the nose and going to a private clinic.
I fully believe you. I just meant that the article I posted (read) may have been put out there by doctors in BC but it did say a group of doctors which could have meant doctors from anywhere.
Certainly their expenses come right off the top. The clinic I go to houses a lot more doctors then it does staff. There are between 1 and 2 people at the front desk. If you don't already know where your doctor is in the building, they tell you which area to go to. I know where to go. When I get to the area where my doctor is, there is one person behind a glassed off window. I tell her who I am and who I am there to see. She says - take a seat. I see her take my typed sheet and place it on one of the office doors my doctor uses. She doesn't seem to do too much more than that. Sometimes someone who works in the bldg. comes to speak to her and sometimes the phone rings but not often. New appts. are booked at the entry to the bldg which houses a pharmacy, a blood testing site, some pyschologists and even a physio-therapist. It's a two story bldg. and a very busy place but in every case, staff is at a minimum. Most of the doctors there also work in a clinic downtown. It's a horrible old bldg that gives me the creeps when I enter it. It's bigger then the clinic I usually attend which is closer to my home by far but it's very very old and dark and dingy looking. There is always at least 2 staff members behind their front counter and sometimes 3. They too send you to an "area". Finding it is something else! Not enough staff and not enough directions. The bldg. has corridors everywhere. One receptionist handles each area and you better be sure to check that you are in the right one! I feel like I am in an underground bldg. without windows. I had to go there for my wrist surgery but other than that, I avoid it entirely. They don't spend money on extra staff and the old bldg. they work out of had to have paid for itself about 25 yrs. ago. I realize there are more expenses then that but for the most part, do they have anymore expenses than any other business?
Did you know that many of them send their work out to be worked on by some person who works from home? For all you know, your next door neighbour could be typing up your file and know all there is to know about you medically speaking. My son's next door neighbour is one of those people.
I'm sure she would never say a word. She's a very honest person but because she is, doesn't mean everyone is. I haven't been to a doctor in years that used hand written notes other than jotting down a few things while I sit in his office. Every doctor in the clinic I go to has a computer sitting right on their desk. Even prescriptions are printed off electronically and then signed. My doctor does not open a paper file up when I go to see him, he opens his electronic file on me. If I ask him about something from a few months back, he scrolls through my file just like we would scroll through a thread here. It might appear they use hand written charts but I bet if you ask, all your "stuff" is typed up and stored via computer.
