The subject for today is the $10,000 arthroscopy of the knee. The principles apply to arthroscopies of the hip, shoulder, elbow and other joints; but the knee is most commonly overcharged.
The problem begins when you or your son or daughter sprains a knee playing sports. The knee is swollen and painful and the patient can't bear weight on the leg.
You consult an orthopedist who gets an x-ray (entirely appropriate) and examines the knee briefly. He then recommends arthroscopy. The patient is admitted to day surgery at the local day surgery center and arthroscopy performed. The doctor comes out after the procedure and says the knee has no major damage and will be okay. Further, no follow-up is needed.
The doctor's bill arrives a few days later and the surgeon's charge is $10,000!!
This is pure extortion. The fee is exorbitant. This examination in the office took fifteen minutes, the arthroscopy took fifteen minutes. But what about overhead: malpractice insurance, office rent, and office staff. The orthopedist does at least 300 cases per year and a generous allowance for overhead would no more than $2000 per case.
So the doctor wants to charge $8000 for thirty minutes professional services. This is simply too much. There is nothing he did or can do that is worth $16,000 per hour.
The solution for you is to find out ahead of time what the doctor plans to charge. If he says he doesn't know his own charge schedule -- he's lying. Go somewhere else. Go to a large well known clinic where the doctors are salaried and not paid a fee per case. Good Luck.