Directory reveals the specialists and surgeons slogging patients with out-of-pocket costs
An online directory is shining a light on specialists and surgeons unfairly slogging their patients with hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket fees.
The platform helps patients determine how likely they are to be hit with extra costs by showing how often a medical professional uses the private health insurer’s gap cover scheme.
HealthShare CEO Rami Weiss tells Deborah Knight the system helps GPs and patients make “more informed decisions”.
“We allow specialists and other health professionals the ability to add all this information about their areas of expertise… and most recently information about whether a specialist particiaptes in a no or known gap arrangement with the patient’s health insurer.”
Listener Diane called in to share how her daughter has been slammed with thousands of dollars of unexpected fees for a serious back operation.
“My daughter’s going in for surgery right now… she’s had to pay nearly $15,000.
“They’re very good doctors and I’m not putting them down at all because they do work very hard. But the cost!”
Ms Weiss says while extreme cases have come to their attention, the majority of medical professionals are doing the right thing by their patients.
Over 14,000 specialists are listed on the site, with around 500,000 Aussies accessing the information every month.
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