Law Suit or No Pay--Docs, Take Your Pick

a href=”http://drwes.blogspot.com/2007/01/dragging-my-heels-in-healthcare.html”Dr. Wes has thoughts /aon why doctors are dragging their heels about using information technology in healthcare:br /br /blockquote”Intel’s Chairman Craig Barrett thinks I’ve been dragging my heels about using information technology in healthcare.br /br /Hmmmm. Dragging my feet over something that represents hours of unpaid labor and exposure to litigation… What could I be thinking?”/blockquotebr /br /Like Dr. Wes, I often have to wonder at some of the things people expect health service providers to do–often for free and with added exposure to liability. I often get requests for evaluations that carry very high liability risk such as violent risk assessments or child custody evaluations. The funny thing is, many times, the client, whoever that may be, balks at the idea that they cannot use their insurance for this type of forensic exam, or that if they have to pay out of pocket, the fee is not just a few bucks. Apparently, my time and exposure to liability means little–people think health service providers are a public commodity, to be used as cheap labor or thrown to the wolves if a patient is harmed in any way–either psychologically or medically because the doctor is overwhelmed with paperwork, patients and out-of-office monitoring. If out-of-office health technology is going to succeed, the liability issues and payment compensation for doctors needs to be worked out in a reasonable way.