Our favorite Dinosaur makes a great point in Friday’s entry -
Terminology
Reimbursement occurs when one party is responsible for an expense that has been paid by another party. If my office manager goes out and buys stamps for the office out of her own pocket, I reimburse her.
The correct word here is PAYMENT for medical services.
We don’t reimburse mechanics for fixing our cars; we PAY them.
We don’t reimburse barbers for a shave and a haircut; we PAY them.
We don’t reimburse accountants for doing our taxes; we PAY them.Insurance companies do not reimburse me for services I render to patients who have contracted with them. They PAY me for them (sometimes.)
This morning I was watching Book TV and listened to an hour about the book - Aristotle and an Aardvark go to Washington .
The authors make a big point about how changing the descriptors of an activity change how we consider that activity. Dinosaur makes that point beautifully.
We need a payment system. I will try to refrain from the r word.
SteveSC
February 25th, 2008 / 5:58 am
In the distant past, insurance companies would reimburse patients for expenses the patients paid to doctors, etc. But some bright people (including doctors, if I remember correctly) believed it would be more efficient to have insurance companies pay doctors directly. Unintended consequences…