From the Mailbag



Occasionally, I get emails from some of you, and while I often answer them in private, sometimes they address something that I think would be beneficial to share here in the blog. Recently, I wrote about our office policy regarding no-shows, and a clinic manager named Sheri sent me the following email:



"I have been recently informed by DMAP that we are restricted from charging their clients a fee for missing their appointments. Do you charge DMAP patients along with everyone else? Actually, the majority of missed appointments are from the DMAP clientele. I would like to hear how others are working this out."



I would say Division of Medical Assistance Program patients are an exception to the general rule, and we have an unwritten policy not to charge them for no-shows. I'm not surprised that it's official policy--although perhaps this differs from state-to-state? However, I should also note that we don't have a large DMAP clientele, so it isn't really an issue. Perhaps other readers could offer Sheri their own experiences?



The next email comes from someone also named Ann:



"I have a question about compensation for my doctors. If a practice offers certain benefits to the partners and one partner does not want the benefit is it customary to compensate them for that benefit monetarily?"



This is an excellent question. I have never had to deal with it personally, but we have it covered in our policy manual. For us, the short answer is "yes," we will compensate a partner in lieu of benefits, if they so wish. The distinction is that we have no set rules for this, as the other partners prefer the discretion of negotiating on a case by case basis. Also, this policy does not transfer to office staff.



As with the previous question, I would appreciate those who have had direct experience with this situation to please comment. I am sure there is more to this than meets the eye, and I'm anxious to know how it has played out in the real world. Why would a partner turn down benefits? How was the compensation calculated? If compensation was denied, did that create problems?



On a final note, I'd like to address the comments regarding my obesity post. I loved the point made that if overweight people can affect thin people, why can't the opposite be true? How many fat people were reformed by their association with fit people? My own parents are a perfect example of this phenomena. Every night, after dinner, my mother drags my father out for a walk around the neighborhood. She even bought him special walking tennis shoes!



Mind you, I'm not trying to discount the value of the study I noted previously regarding the social impact overweight people have on those around them. I just think it's important to avoid stigmatizing people, and working toward productive, healthy solutions.



Thanks for reading! I hope those of you who can help with today's questions will take a moment and offer a comment. I would love to hear from you!