The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-10-03
KEEP DOCTOR
BY THE YEAR
New York City viii Try a New
Scheme
WITH ANNUAL SALARIES
An Adaptation of Ancient Chinese
Plan in Which Doctor Is Paid for
Keeping Patient WeIl-Pay
Stops During illness.

From the New York Press.
An adaptation of the ancient Chinese
plan of paying the doctor is being en-
couraged by some New York physicians.
In China the custom that has existed for
thousands of years is for the individual
or family to pay the doctor certain sum
per year so long as they keep well. So
soon as they get i'll the payments cease
until they are restored to health. The
New York adaptation of the idea is to
give an annual salary to the DOCTOR This
fixed sum is not exceeded or diminished,
no matter how long an Illness may in
tervene, or how little attention may be
necessary to the patient in the IL months.
Scores of physicians on the upper West
Side in Manhattan and as many more in
Brooklyn have been pursuing this course.
and the number is increasing steadily.
Where a general practitioners charges
are 81 for office consultation and So for
a domiciliary visit, the rule is to make
the annual fee $50 for an Individual and
his family. If the family is a large one,
of course, this sum is increased slightly.
The doctor really is paid so much per
year to keep his clients in good health.
Therefore it devolves upon the physician
to look after his patients carefully and
to nip any signs of disease in the bud.
That prevention is easier than cure is
a time-worn adage. 1t is easier to make
repairs on the human machine before 1t
breaks down than it is to patch it up or
rQI.
is for the persons who make such agree
ments with their medical men to see their
doctors and be Cooked over at least
once every fortnight. If they should feel
the slightest fndisposition meantime they
drop in at his office and get fixed up.
People are inclined to do this and to avail
themselves of a physicians services much
more freely, knowing that it will cost
them just as much in money if they stay
away. Those who have been trying this
plan-both the physician and the pa
| tents-seem to be satisfied with it.
| While the figure of $50 a year seems to
be about the average, it really is a matter
| of individual arrangement in each case
] 1T is purely a business proposition, Just
the same as letting a contract for any
sort of work. The doctor examines his
! prospective patients and mentally decides
| what the chances are for their keeping
| well for a year under ordinary circum-
stances. Then he makes his bid accord
ingly. From the physicians point of
view 1t is a good business proposition
IF he has ten or dozen such annual con-
tracts, he knows that he is sure of that
much money. Payments are made quar-
terly.
Some of the doctors privately express
the hope that this new idea may gain
permanent foothold here, for 1t is well
known that the incomes of the rank and
file of New York physicians have been
dwindling year by year. A lot of the
newer and younger ones are starving in
a genteel way. Ask any New York doc
tor how his earnings in the last two years
compare with those of the two years pre-
vious and II you know him well enough
the chances are he will tell you that they
have dropped off from 20 to 80 per cent
Some ascribe the decrease to the ever
growing number of physicians who have
opened offices here, and say that the
patronage is being divided up between too
many. One prominent medical man
blames 1t on the motor cars. He SAYS
that his most profitable patients now
spend hours every day touring about in
the open air with their machines and that
that0is making him poor
Probably the most potent cause, how
ever, is the system many of the fraternal
orders have of engaging a physician to
look after the members also much per
member per month. Even some of the
big life insurance companies have lately
adopted this same plan. They are sending
their own physicians out among their
clients free of charge and are sparing no
pains to prevent them from getting dis
eases that can be avoided. The longer
a policy holder lives and earns money the
longer he pays premiums. When he dies
he is literally dead loss' to the insur-
ance company.