The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-12-07
DO ATLANTA DOCTORS
SELL THEIR "PATIENTS?"
From the Atlanta journal.

these articles to prevent the sale of
patients becoming a practice in At
lanta.
Instances of this evil occur here
now. Undoubtedly Atlanta patients
are sold, and occasionally unnecessa-
operations are performed for the
money.
But dishonesty of this kind is
new and infrequent in the South.
1t is confined chiefly to the West and
the East. Nowhere are medical eth
les higher than in Atlanta. But sell
! ing patients will become more numer-
Gus here unless people know about
such practices.
DR.. Evans has written two articles
on what he calls fee-splitting, and |
want you to quote from them in or
! der that Atlanta people may realize
| the danger from selling patients,
which is slight now, but may grow
serious later on.
"A patient says DR., Evans in
one of these articles, 'consults a
physician, who recommends an oper-
alton The sick man asks who is to
do the operation. If the fee-splitting
has an understanding with some one
as to his commission he suggests
that man. The probability is he will
say to the patient, / expect to be
running into the city about that time.
| will take you in When they
reach the city they see the operator
together. The patient may be told
the home doctor is to assist at the
operation.
In the worst cases the home doc
tor arranges the amount of the fee,
collects it and pays the operator, re-
| leving the patient of those details.
In some the operator collects, say
ing nothing to the patient about any
payment to the physician who came
with him. The patient can be certain
that the family physician does not
assist at the operation. An operating
room organization arranges that each
assistant shall have his work cut out
for him. Team work is a necessity.
Each assistant must know how to an
ticipate the next move of the opera
ton. If an outside physician is al
| lowed on the operating floor he may
be permitted to put on gown and
stand close by. but he must not touch
any instrument. The statement that
! the physician is paid for assisting
cannot be substantiated.
when a patient asks his physi-
clan to select an operator for him
! he has a right to expect that the
physician will give him the name of
| a thoroughly capable man. More
than that, he should expect the name
of an operator who suits the circum-
stances of his case best. If his ply
stefan is a fee-splitter what the pa
| tient gets is the name of the fee
splitting operator with whom the
physician has been able to make sat
/ isfactory terms.
with the above statement in
mind what is your answer to the
following questions?
eff physicians are bartering pa
/ tients among fee-splitters as com
i mercial transaction will not unneces-
4 sary operations be the inevitable re
suit?
IF a physician diagnoses an infect
ed appendix and sends the patient to
a fee-splitter is it not possible that
the diagnosis will be confirmed, re-
4 gardless of the condition found, and
an operation done?
ITO summarize:
1.-The results of fee-splitting are
several. The patient of the fee-split-
ter pays more for the service than
the operator in the case is accustom-
/ ed to receiving. The fee collected
for like service must satisfy two
men. the operator and the attending
physician, as well as pay the expenses
of the unnecessary attendance of the
physician on the trip to town.
Hence" said the Atlanta sur
geon, we must stop the practice OF
selling patients, which has begun
Il here on a small scale"