Million dollar doctors

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The province’s Health Minister wants doctors to come back to the bargaining table in order to sort out a new system that determines how physicians are paid. Earlier today Eric Hoskins, who is also a doctor, revealed that some doctors are getting paid exorbitant amounts.

The average doctor in Ontario makes about $368 000 a year, which isn’t insignificant by any standard but according to Minister Hoskins, some doctors are getting paid millions to do relatively little work.

According to a study last year, about 500 Ontario doctors billed the province $1 million each. Hoskins says family physicians, psychiatrists, emergency doctors and neurologists aren’t the culprits. Half of these high-billing doctors are diagnostic radiologists, anaesthesiologists and ophthalmologists. One ophthalmologist billed the OHIP over $6.6 million while a radiologist claimed over $5 million in billings.

“Unpredictable and frankly uncontrolled billing by some doctors creates huge income for some doctors, leaves less for family doctors and others, squeezes our ability to fund home and community care and robs us of the ability to responsibly plan healthcare spending each year.” Eric Hoskins.

The province has added $140 million to it’s already huge $11 billion budget to pay our doctors. Over the last four years Hoskins says MDs have billed nearly $750 million over budget. Hoskins says these ballooned incomes are due to fee code structures that haven’t adapted to technological advances.

“Many cases, physicians were earning more than half of their total billings from one procedure and that one procedure was a simple urine dip stick test.”

Dr. Mike Toth, the President of the Ontario Medical Association responded by saying,
“In order to move forward with the process of meaningful negotiations, rather than negotiate in public and mischaracterize the facts, Ontario’s doctors ask that Hoskins clarify his position directly with the OMA.”

While the OMA represents 34 000 doctors and medical students, one Oakville doctor told a local paper that he and members of a group called ‘Concerned Onatrio Doctors’ will be rallying outside Queen’s Park on Saturday over the state of practising medicine in this province.