The expenses that eat up a $100 office visit

If you’re an internist who receives $100 for a 99214 office visit, expect to pocket only $41 in profit. The rest of the money goes for overhead such as malpractice insurance ($3.50), equipment and its repair and maintenance (another $3.50), supplies such as tongue depressors and copy paper ($6), rent and utilities ($7), general operating expenses such as telephones, accounting fees, advertising, medical journals, licenses, and taxes ($11), and employee salary and benefits ($28).

This analysis, produced by Medical Economics, appeared in the July cover story of Readers Digest titled “41 Secrets Your Doctor Would Never Share” by Cynthia Dermody and Patricia Curtis. The overhead breakdown is based on 2005 income and expense data for general internists compiled by the National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants and the Academy of Dental CPAs. Reader’s Digest erroneously linked the overhead numbers to those of a family physician.

In the Reader’s Digest article, doctors sound off about everything from patients who answer cell phone calls in the exam room to the fear of malpractice suits. “It makes me give patients a lot of unnecessary tests that are potentially harmful, just so I don’t miss an injury or problem that comes back to haunt me in the form of a lawsuit,” one nervous ER doctor is quoted as saying.

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