Fees charged to a consulting population in general practice.

OBJECTIVES

information generated by the computer systems of thirty-five general practitioners was examined to determine their fee structure during the study period.

METHODS

copies of the general medical services (GMS) claims and patient fees were examined to determine whether patients had been charged the doctor's regular fee or an amount greater or less than this.

RESULTS

information on 97,869 consultations was collected. A regular fee was charged to patients in 47% of cases, a greater or less than normal fee was charged in 7.5% of the consultations, and no fee to the patient was made in 22.5% of cases. Consultations charged to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) comprised 17.5% of the study data. Maternity cases comprised the remaining 5.5%. Nineteen doctors provided information on 6511 out of hours or home visit consultations. In 44.3% of these cases no charge was made to the patient. This proportion was higher among beneficiaries (58.9%) than for any other group.

CONCLUSION

all of the contributing doctors appear to exercise discretion in their charging policies rather than to maintain a rigid pricing structure for their services.