The current economic downturn can be measured by all kinds of economic indicators–including some showing up in hospitals and doctors’ offices. Six out of 10 hospitals report seeing more uninsured patients, according to a new survey by the American Hospital Association. Thirteen percent of those hospitals describe the increases as significant. 

At the same time, 59 percent of the hospitals surveyed are experiencing a drop-off in elective and non-emergency surgeries such as knee replacements and hernia repairs. Forty-one percent report a moderate decline. Eighteen percent say the fall-off is dramatic.

Together, those trends mean hospitals already ailing financially are slipping into even worse shape. Many report laying off staff and cutting programs. The big worry: care won’t be available when people need it.

More and more doctors in private practice, meanwhile, are also seeing the effects of the slump. According to the Medical Group Management Association, which represents 22,5000 medical practices in the US, a growing number of physicians report an increase in patients failing to show up for appointments or putting off preventive care visits. Deferring some check-ups may be okay for a short period. But many doctors worry that patients are putting themselves at risk or suffering unnecessarily. But for people who have lost their jobs (and often their insurance) there may be little choice.

Now some of those docs, concerned about their long-term patients’ well-being, are cutting deals.

More and more are discounting their rates for office visits, for example, for patients who have lost their jobs, lost their insurance, or who have seen their incomes shrink. Some are turning to installment payment plans. Others are offering one free office visit during the year or piggy-backing one type of office visit onto another less-expensive one, a kind of two-for-the-price-of-one deal. 

One physician has devised a clever membership plan in his clinic. For $75 a month, patients receive up to 12 office visits a year and a variety of basic tests.

Not all doctors are offering a lifeline to financially ailing patients, of course. PDQhealth applauds those who do. Helping patients, after all, is what medicine is all about.

© 2009 PDQhealth

Tags: economy, non-emergency surgery, recession, special deals