The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-07-20
Experiments Are Carried or
With Fair Degree Of Suc-
cess, Sponsors Say

SOHlc VI Lille UlOTe interesting QS.
coveries and conclusions of the
Committee on the Costs of Medi-
cal Care, which is making a series
of studies of the economic aspects
Of illness and medical service.
X Y
Washington, July 20.-Some people
can have a doctors car without any
doctor bills.
Not very many, it is true, but the
Committee on the Costs of Medical
Care located some community expert
ments of the sort which it considered
worthy Of exhaustive study.
Thirty-one communities in two
Canadian provinces have employed
community physicians to treat their
citizens and one large American shoe
company for more than 10 years has
provided free medical care for its
IL, 5000 employees and their dependents
with a medical department employing
100 persons. The reports of the on
mittee's experts indicate that both
experiments have been carried out
with more than a satisfactory degree
of success. The reports are especially
interesting because of the attention
modern day sociologists are paying to
the inequalities of illness and the
committees attack on the problem of
reasonable costs Of medical service
for its recipients.
Might Try It Here
In Saskatchewan and Manitoba
mostly In the former province-31
rural communities now have COM
munity doctors. These rural COM
munities resemble u coun-
ties, being about Is miles square. The
community doctor system is 10 years
old and it may be applicable to some
| communities in the United States In
! view of a recognized tendency for
physicians to concentrate in cities be-
cause of unsatisfactory incomes OBJ
tainable in rural rea The system
has grown in Saskatchewan part,--' be-
cause of complaints Of excessive
medical costs and insufficient service
in rural areas and partly because OF
the difficulty in persuading ply
sicians to enter private practice where
returns were very low. . Sometimes
local physicians have demanded that
they be hired by the community If the
community wanted them to stay.
Seven additional communities voted
to hire a municipal doctor last De-
cember and not n Of the 81 which
have had a municipal doctor has
abandoned the plan.
Physicians are eager for the posi-
tons end it Is said that from 80 to
so apply whenever Is open.
Gets $4,000 Per Year
The average community served has
a population of 1900 and the median
salary of the Saskatchewan municipal
doctor is about $4,000. He may or
may not be permitted additional in
come from certain fees. He serves not
only Is a general practitioner to the
rural municipality but also as the
public health officer. In several COM
munities besides the 81 the local ply
sician is subsidized to the extent of
81, 500 or less in return for public
health services and his r of in
digent persons.
Usually the municipal physician
serves all residents without charge,
although sometimes nominal fees are
set for certain specified services. Of
flee calls are invariably free Of charge.
Most surgery is exempted from the
"free care" system, although about
half Of the municipal doctors per-
! form tonsillectomies free, and there
is usually a charge for drugs admin
istered.
Make Over 800 Visits
Each doctor has from 1000 to $500
office calls annually and makes from
300 to 500 visits to the homes of his
patients. The committee report finds
that the average family expense for
medical service Of all kinds-includ-
ing taxes for the physicians salary
and any extra fees paid. drugs, nurs-
ing and sc on-is $40 q year.
Most municipal doctors say they
are doing more work now than they
would be II they were in private prac-
tice but that their income is greater