2 hour survey - $225.00!!

[disneysteve]

I just got invited to a 2-hour discussion group tomorrow night for $225.00. Gotta love that. I've gone to this place a few times before and it is always very nice. They usually have snacks when we arrive and we all sit in a conference room and answer questions about the product and fill out a little survey form when we're done.

I usually pass up their invitiations because they are at times when I'm having office hours and can't attend. I lucked out with this one so I jumped at it and called and I qualified based on my answers to the prelim questions.

That will be a nice boost to my December survey income. Best thing is they pay immediately as we leave the office.

[Aleta]

I would ask you to invite me but I suppose I would have to have an MD behind my name. Oh well! That is great money. Are there refreshments as well? I can understand why you don't want to pass that up.

[am_vanquish]

Congrats, let us know how it goes. Maybe you'll even get a sample of the product (although I doubt it).

[disneysteve]

Congrats, let us know how it goes. Maybe you'll even get a sample of the product (although I doubt it).

Considering it is a medical conference, I probably don't want or need a sample of whatever it is we'll be discussing. Just the check will be sufficient.

[Ima saver]

Wow, Steve that is great!

[Broken Arrow]

Yeah, that's mad money for just 2 hours of "work". I wish I could do that.

[project15]

I've done something like that before for car insurance. It was pretty fun because I was actually interested in the topic.

[St. Theresa]

Pharmaceuticals?

[disneysteve]

Pharmaceuticals?

Normally, yes, though this one was actually about a particular health insurance company.

Tomorrow, I'm doing a 45 minute telephone interview about hypertension medication. I'll get $250 for that, so I'm having a great week.

[nanamom]

Cool, wish they did that for housewives!!

[St. Theresa]

Man, I should have gone into medicine. Instead, I got a degree in English.

Whenever I go to my doc's office, there's ALWAYS someone from a drug company there, buying the staff lunch and whatnot. Nothing personal Steve, but I can't stand it. Between the drug companies and my HMOs, I know my doc is not always doing the right thing for me.

I helped my best friend move in August and afterwards my back ached for a long time. I've herniated a disc before and suspected I had done some more damage. He would not approve an MRI no matter how much I begged. HMO, ya know. I finally went to an ER, and only then did he approve it, but he wanted to send me someplace an hour away. The only possible reason for that is that it was cheaper. I complained, and was able to go for the MRI nearby.

The result? Another herniation! I knew it, too. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

On the bright side, he does often have samples of meds to give me, which saves ME a little money.

I'm glad for you, though. Fencesitter I am....

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

St. Theresa, did the MRI make a difference in what your treament was to be?

[St. Theresa]

Definitely. There's no possible way they can recommend what to do unless they know what's wrong. For example, if I had a protruding disc which had not herniated and I let a chiropractor mess with me, he could make it worse.

Oh, and because the DEA is being REALLY tough on doctors who prescribe narcotics, I couldn't get a decent pain killer out of my doc until he got the MRI report. It's impossible to measure pain. You don't know if someone is lying or not, especially with back pain, which is a very common patient complaint. Once my doc had the report in hand, he prescribed REAL painkillers with no fear of the DEA raiding his office.

In fact, my neurosurgeon is sending me for a second MRI because, since the last one, I sneezed and ended up practically immobile. He now needs to see what, if anything, has changed.

[disneysteve]

Between the drug companies and my HMOs, I know my doc is not always doing the right thing for me.

This is unfortunate, but true in the world of medicine today, and it got discussed quite heatedly at last night's program. The program was a focus group on behalf of one of the major Medicaid HMOs in the state. They wanted to know what we doctors thought about the service this company provides, what we like, what we dislike and what they could be doing better. The complaints that got brought up were the same across the board. Stop limiting patients' access to certain medications. Stop requiring doctors to fill out tons of forms and jump through hoops in order to order necessary tests on their patients. Let doctors be doctors and do what they are trained to do - care for patients. So much time, effort and money is wasted on bureaucratic nonsense that doctors can't do what they feel is best for their patients.

The sad part is that all of the rules and regulations and prior authorizations and pre-certifications don't really save the insurer any money. In fact, they often increase costs, increase emergency room utilization, increase prescription expenses and increase the insurancy company's overhead.

[disneysteve]

Oh, and because the DEA is being REALLY tough on doctors who prescribe narcotics, I couldn't get a decent pain killer out of my doc until he got the MRI report... Once my doc had the report in hand, he prescribed REAL painkillers with no fear of the DEA raiding his office.

Actually, even a positive MRI doesn't protect the doctor. This is absolutely not directed at you personally, but many drug-seeking patients take advantage of their positive MRI findings to obtain narcotics inappropriately. They will doctor hop, meaning go from doctor to doctor, bringing along their MRI report showing that they have legitimate disease and need pain meds. Since this country has yet to establish a computer database linking pharmacies (a disgrace, in my opinon), it is quite simple for a patient to see multiple doctors, get multiple prescriptions and fill them at multiple pharmacies without anyone finding out.