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Mike Batt's words of wisdom

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by Simon Ross, Feb 7, 2015.

  1. Simon Ross

    Simon Ross Active Member


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    Taken from journal Pod Medicine Winter 2014

    "The weather forecasters predict a wet winter, which is a nuisance to those doing domcillary work because it makes the job so much harder. ...yet it is not always convenient for practitioners who have to do the travelling. In all other aspects, patients will pay more for treatment at home, rather than go to a surgery. But it seems strange that in this profession this is not quite the same. After all, travelling to a patients home entails going out in all weathers, paying fuel costs but more patients have to be booked each week, to compensate time travelling, in order to meet the same number of walk-in patients seen by a clinical practise.

    So why should patients not pay more for a home visit. It is hardly comfortable for the practitioner, unless you have really good supporting equipment to make work easier. And it means carrying around heavy equipment, numerous sets of instruments, and medicaments. Something that should be considered. Food for thought!"

    Do you think that he is having a go at some of his members here?!
     
  2. Suzannethefoot

    Suzannethefoot Active Member

    I have no idea of he's having a go. What he is saying is logical, we ought to charge twice as much for home visits as surgery treatments, as they take twice as long, but few people ever do. In fact, here abouts, some home visiting practitioners are charging less than the average surgery fee!
     
  3. Elizabeth Humble-Thomas

    Elizabeth Humble-Thomas Active Member

    It is much cheaper to run a domiciliary practice than to pay rental etc for an equipped clinic. However, most health professionals charge substantially more for a home visit - physios, osteopaths etc.
    I suspect the relatively low charges we make reflect our unacknowledged admission that the results of a home treatment are rarely as satisfactory as those of a clinic visit , because of better lighting, better access to the feet and a wider range of equipment available.
     
  4. kram 0115

    kram 0115 Welcome New Poster

    Used to do war pension work both at the surgery & domiciliary but sadly my patients
    have died .The ministry paid about double for a home visit which took about twice as long especially if just doing the one house call I always allowed an hour but it was
    nice to go out mid morning to break the day up. My most visited W/P was a weekly visit as requested by the ministry he was promised surgery to reconstruct his foot but was cancelled due to vascular deficiency so hence the weekly visit.
    Fees are what the practitioner feels happy charging but house calls in my view should be charged at a much higher rate.
    Any way god bless our war vets. past & present.
     
  5. Suzannethefoot

    Suzannethefoot Active Member

    It is cheaper to run a home visiting practice Elizabeth, yes, but as Kram states, you can only do around half the numbers, so you have to charge more. I don't charge double, but around 30% extra. Many of my home visits are husband and wife, or neighbours who get together, so my home visits don't always take exactly double time. As for not being able to give the same high standards of treatment, this is true, but the majority of my home visiting patients choose for me to go to them, I would much rather they came to me, and in fact am not taking on any more home visits. The old back is starting to complain! :)
     
  6. AlanCawthorne

    AlanCawthorne Member

    I charge a small additional fee for home visits to contribute towards extra time and travelling, but I also give the option of 2 or more treatments at the same visit and I charge the same as a clinic visit. I'm not in the same clinic all week, so I set certain times specifically for home visits. With the locations I cover I can normally cover about 6 home visits in an afternoon.
     
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