This rather hopeful article appeared last week:
Govt's cost finder website to finally list specialists' fees... soon
But it will be voluntary, and officials won't say how many doctors are signing up
25th February 2022
The Federal Government’s specialist fees website is finally going to reveal the fees charged by individual specialists — as long as they agree first.
Touted as a fix for 'bill shock', the Medical Costs Finder website launched three years ago but was dubbed a waste of time because it only lists average out-of-pocket costs for about 1300 in-hospital and out-of-hospital procedures.
But next month, testing will start on an upgraded version allowing individual specialists to list their fees for a limited number of procedures.
Plastic surgeons, obstetricians, ENT specialists, urologists and gastroenterologists would be first in line, with the ability to list their fees for approximately 100 MBS-rebated procedures, the Department of Health said.
It has not said how many doctors have so far signed up, but if the testing goes as planned their fees will be made public by the end of July.
The Gastroenterological Society of Australia is one of nine specialist societies involved.
"If there are only a small number of practitioners that list their fees, then we don't know where they sit across the spectrum — whether that's lowball or highball," its president Professor Benedict Devereaux said.
"So it's important that we get substantial uptake."
One of the criticisms levied at the concept of a fee comparison site was that it might encourage doctors to raise their fees, if they realised there were no cheaper options.
But Professor Devereaux said most doctors would already have a good sense of what their peers were charging.
More here:
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/govts-cost-finder-website-finally-list-specialists-fees-soon
Great idea I reckon except for one flaw – in any competitive market – read the capital cities – very few, other that really super, super specialists, will want to tell competitors their fees!
Until the information is handled in a way that avoids the issue – and I can’t think of one – I reckon this is DOA…
What do you think?
David.
1 comment:
When you have an operation, it usually involves multiple practitioners. The lead surgeon, an assistant and an anesthetist and potentially others.
The total costs are more than those of any one specialist, not to mention that of the hospital.
And if you are having a joint replacement, there's the cost of the prosthesis, although those surgeons are not included in the initial range.
The Department of Health doesn't seem to understand how the health system actually works.
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