Thoughts on charging the same thing for a nurse practitioner as for a doctor...

[npmommie]

OP I may have missed it , but were you happy with the result of your visit with the NP? was there anything she/he did or did not do that you feel the doctor would have done differently?

there are a few points I would like to talk about. obviously I am a bit biased in my opinions of NP's, but here goes

as far as the billing goes, NP's have their own provider numbers and should be billed under their own numbers not the MD's. they can bill under the MD only for "incident to" billing, which means the doctor has initiated the care of that patient and the NP also sees the patient but the doctor continues to see them as well.
an example would be a patient comes in for a PE is found to have high BP, the doctor has the patient come back to follow up for the BP, the NP will see the patient and they can bill incident to the doctor and bill under his number as if he saw the patient.
but really it is in the best interest of NP's to make sure their practices are billing under their own numbers so we are not "invisible"
because we do provide a valuable service as mid level providers.

In the job I do now, everything I do is billed for each insurance under my own provider number

also someone mentioned the orthopedic PA. there are numerous examples of specialized NP's I can give you . there are ortho NP's, GI, cardiac, etc etc.
we can all specialize in whatever area we choose. the best ortho NP I ever saw worked at the hospital I used to be at as an RN. when I was in grad school I met some fantastic NP's who did cardiac caths in one of the best teaching hospitals in our state.
no a general practice NP can not step into the shoes of an ortho NP without proper training. just as a general practice doctor cannot step into the shoes of an Ortho without the training.

the NP's in specialty areas are trained in that area. a good friend of mine is an NP in dermatology........you would be hard pressed to find someone who knows their derm like she does.

No we are not doctors and doctors are not NP's
you will find all types of docs as you will find all types of NP's.

 

[dizluvah]

My 2 cents - the NP is part of the health care team that I have chosen with the group of doctors I selected. In fact, for more than 2 years now - I have solely seen the NP - she does a wonderful job helping me manage my diabetes, she provides care that I am completely confident in. Although my designated primary care doctor with my insurance is Dr. Susie Q - I have never seen Dr. Susie Q, as all my needs are met plus some with the NP. I know for a fact the NP would and has consulted with Dr. Susie Q. about specifics regarding my care when/if she feels the need. I am more than happy with my ARNP and I do not believe I should pay less of a co-copay to see her.

 

[arminnie]

also someone mentioned the orthopedic PA. there are numerous examples of specialized NP's I can give you . there are ortho NP's, GI, cardiac, etc etc.

That would be me. thanks for the info. The only NPs I have worked with have been in general medicine so I was not aware of the specialist training for NPs. But I didn't know about the specialist training for PAs either until I went to one a couple of months ago.

I've used NPs for about 30 years but did not know what a PA was until about 3-4 years ago.

I think NPs in particular are a vital part of today's health care team. My internist does not use one, but I wish she did.

 

[Scurvy]

My 2 cents - the NP is part of the health care team that I have chosen with the group of doctors I selected. In fact, for more than 2 years now - I have solely seen the NP - she does a wonderful job helping me manage my diabetes, she provides care that I am completely confident in. Although my designated primary care doctor with my insurance is Dr. Susie Q - I have never seen Dr. Susie Q, as all my needs are met plus some with the NP. I know for a fact the NP would and has consulted with Dr. Susie Q. about specifics regarding my care when/if she feels the need. I am more than happy with my ARNP and I do not believe I should pay less of a co-copay to see her.

This is my opinion as well. I feel that I am paying the doctor's practice to perform a service, not necessarily for the doctor herself to do so. As long as the person performing the service is trained to do so, I don't care which person does it. In my experience the doctor tends to spend less time with each patient. The NP allots more time for each patient and is able to be more thorough. If the NP feels that something needs the doctor's attention, then he or she goes to get the doctor. If my problem is something that the NP can handle without getting the doctor, then I'm fine with that. I agree to pay the co-pay in order to receive a particular service, not to see a particular person. If for some reason I felt that the NP wasn't worth that co-pay because they weren't able to perform that service, then I would also have no confidence in the doctor who was allowing the NP to perform that service in her practice and so I'd be finding a new practice ASAP.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

A co-pay is typically for an office visit (and whatever that includes). It isn't for a specific practioner and thus an NP or GP can see you.

My co-pay will be the same whehter it is for a GP or a specialist and in no way correlates with the fees that they charge.


I would only raise a stink if the it was the NP who saw you and they billed the company for the doc so that they could get more money. IMHO that is wrong to do and is but one of the many problems in the high cost of care and insurance.

However--I don't see any issues with the co-pay that you had to pay. I know that my insurance co-pays aren't based on the "rank" of the invididual whom you are seeing.