, 1896-03-14
THE DOCTORS CIR zvANces.


tbfA tsN Flistl.1lI>t lhake4 vOf
the General Practitioner.
A physician with a large general
practice, telling of The drawbacks the
general practitioner had to put up with,
said:
One ren:cn why so many young doc
tors take mp q specially and refuse gen.
eral work IL !hat The specialist can earn
four times the fee OF Il general practi-
TONER, and he gets it. There is no wait
ing for his money. The general practi-
tone works twice us lard for his one
fourth, and he has to wait until his pa
tent gets ready to pay him. A physi
clan, unlike any other professional man,
nm demand spot CASH. don't mean
that exactly. but if he should demand
it, he would be regarded as IL brute, He
cannot rerHsJ TO answer any sort of q
call that is L-indc on him. his fec is com.
paratively small, and it's Il problem
whether he gets it at all.
II am nor speaking now of families
that are pnur and cannot afford to pay
doctors. They are the best pay. If the
money is Ill the house they pay on the
spot. It's the middle class that l refer
to. That class is made III of persons
who can pay. but from one cause or an
other neglect to pay, or can afford to
pay II good fee and insist on paying only
u small ole. If there is il serious illness,
they ask the doctor if they had not bet
ter have n specialist visit them. The
doctor, rs Il rule, tells them it is not
absolutely necessary, Int if they would
feel more comfortable after the visit of
q specialist 1t might be well to have
one. SO they get a specialist, who comes
to the house and looks wise. He makes
a thorough examination, and ninety
nine times ont of Il hundred he says
that the regular physician is giving the
proper treatment. If he has any sugges-
lions to make, they are minor ones. The
family ask the fee.
1.-The specialist says $50, S75 or 800,
or perhaps il great deal more if the
house looks as if the people could stand
the charge. The money is paid on the
spot. The regular doctor continues to
trent the case. The patient RECEIVERS
bis bill is perhaps less than the single
fee of the specialist. but the patient
kicks about it. He thinks doctors are
robbers, and all that. But lie never re-
grets the fee of the specialist, and in u
great many cases he actually believes
that if the specialist hadn't visited him
he would hav. died. The regular prac-
tltiCner gets no credit. Tie average
man takes a certain pride in being sick
enough to have a specialist visit him.
TI,n ~. V-rp,n, ala. -., OIL.
talks about it afterward, oh, l had DR..
So-and-so, the great specialist in this,
that or the other disease
Just II few hours ago l was called to
attend u case, and the first thing l heard
was, w had DR.. -, the great spe-
%cialist, when lie was sick before
treated the patient, and a miserable lit
tie fee, less even than the regular fee,
was rendered. l said, How much did
DR.. - charge you:' Seventy five dol
lars was the reply. l would not have
asked the question, nor would l have
said anything further had l not known
that the head of the family was prosper
Gus, and could we'll afford to pay 10 or
20 times the fee he rendered me. I said
to him: Very well, sir. When there is
any more sickness in your family, you
must send for DIR. - and pay him $75.
If you send for me, l shall refuse to
come for any such fee as this The man
felt insulted.
II don't want to say anything that
could be construed as all assault on
specialists. l know their value, and !
have the greatest respect for them, but
there is certainly a reform necessary III
the patients the average general practi.
TONER is called on to attend. New
York SIM.