Talk Cancer

Question:

Good grief.  It’s everywhere and knee deep.  This is akin to the community college I taught at where every faculty member was well above average, everybody who acquired enough points qualified for merit pay irrespective of their teaching talents, everybody passed their peer reviews with flying colors, and less than 10% of the students ever graduated – but, it’s state money, not ours.  Whoopie -what a deal. Dave Perry

Response:

As a patient where do you rate in this approach?

I rate this approach and its followers BELOW "Jim" and "Monte" and all the other cancer cure spammers, because at least Jim and Monte are wearing wolf’s clothing. These money-grubbing physicians pretend to be helpers, healers, etc. In a far less odious but recent illustrative example, I got a quote from my optometrist for simple single-vision prescription eyeglass lenses. I didn’t even ask about frames. $300. Then I went to Walmart and ordered the lenses AND new frames for $54. It’s reassuring to know that my teaching university surgeons and oncologists are paid annual salaries, particularly when they’re wearing VA lab coats, rather than astronomical fees per stitch. In my last career, if I had accepted a lunch worth over about $10 from any outside source, I would have been court martialed. I.P.

Response:

As a patient where do you rate in this approach? /begin Doctors’ orders: learn to get rich By Adam Cresswell September 10, 2005 A DOCTORS’ college is under fire for accrediting as part of its education program movie screenings and a "wealth-creation" seminar that teaches GPs about investments, how to maximise their profits and even hide their assets from patients who may try to sue them. Several GPs yesterday attacked as "disgraceful" and "totally inappropriate" the decision by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to allocate points to the wealth-creation seminar as part of its Continuing Professional Development scheme. Doctors who meet points targets under the scheme are eligible for higher payments from Medicare. The program is intended to ensure doctors’ medical knowledge remains up to date and its aim is to "improve the quality of care they (GPs) provide to patients". But even some members of the RACGP board are unhappy about the decision to give 30 points – almost one-quarter of the three-year target – to the seminar, which has already been staged in Sydney and Melbourne and is to be held in Brisbane today. Topics addressed include investing for GPs, how to improve practice profits, financial help for children and asset protection strategies. Doctors have also been awarded points for watching the Australian film Look Both Ways and for completing a questionnaire afterwards. A key theme of the film is breaking bad news to patients. Advertisement: The RACGP, the GP newspaper Australian Doctor which organised the seminar, and even federal Health Minister Tony Abbott yesterday defended the decision to award the event CPD points. The RACGP said it "does not focus on wealth- creation strategies, rather it focuses on building competence in practice management". But South Australian GP James Moxham said the points for the seminar were "disgraceful". "It’s possible to get all your points by going to drug-company-funded dinners, and you can fall asleep before the main speaker and you will still get your points," he said. "It really does highlight some serious flaws in the system, which ought to be addressed." Another GP said he was "not alone in my profession in being appalled by this abuse of the system". GPs must earn 130 points under the CPD scheme every three years, by attending a variety of conferences and other education meetings on different topics. The wealth seminar was allocated 30 points and the movie screening and questionnaire were allocated six points. To earn the points, GPs attending the seminar have to demonstrate they have spent at least one hour studying the relevance of the event to their own practices, and to complete a "reinforcing activity" afterwards. GPs who fail to amass 130 points can still practise, but risk being kicked off the list of "recognised GPs" who get higher Medicare rebates. A bulk-billing GP can earn $30.85 from Medicare for a consultation of up to 20 minutes, whereas the payment is only $21 for a GP who has not met the CPD requirements. Mr Abbott said GPs had to acquire a lot of business knowledge and the wealth seminar "appears to focus on running a quality general practice". Australian Doctor sales and marketing manager Tim Young said topics covered would include the tax advantages to GPs of employing other healthcare workers such as physiotherapists and nurses within their practices – moves that would benefit patient care. "It’s important that GPs are able to look after their finances in a way that avoids them being stressed about financial issues, when they have a lot of things they need to be concerned about – like patients’ welfare," he said. "The financial seminar we are running is one of a series of seven seminars and the other six focus entirely on clinical content." /end NB: CC has a buddy that’s a Financial Adviser who’ll steer some of these in the right direction. CC gets a finder’s FEE — Reader to complete… — Please reply to this ng as my email adress is fake: — Regards — CC

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