MD fees much higher in US
CMAJ 1997;156:960
© 1997 Canadian Medical Association
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Canadian fee-for-service physicians are paid far less for medical procedures than their American colleagues. Depending on the specialty, there can be a three- to nine-fold difference in fees. A high-volume item such as complete obstetrical care earns American physicians almost 6 times more (Can$2580) than their Canadian counterparts ($437). They also bill almost 4 times more for electrocardiograms. The 1993 Medical Economics Continuing Survey showed median practice expenses for American fee-for-service physicians to account for 36.4% of income, an amount comparable to the overhead costs of Canadian physicians.
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canadian physicians saw relatively small increases in average fee-for-service payments between 198990 and 199293. Over the 4 years the average payment per service increased from $25.98 to $28.75, an average annual increase of 2.7%.
[ See Table 1 ]
This column was written by Lynda Buske, chief, physician resources information and planning, CMA. Readers may send potential research topics to Patrick Sullivan (sullip@cma.ca; 613 731-8610 or 800 663-7336, ext. 2126; fax 613 523-0937).
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