Filipino Physician Blogs
The Company Doctor and Professional Fee
Author: Roy Mangubat
Blog: The Practice >> Qualifications for Company Physicians
How Company Doctor’s Retainers should be paid?
Guide for Employers and HR Managers
By Roy Mangubat, MD, DPCOM
The Filipino culture takes value and pride on educational attainment, almost all Filipino parents wishes their children to have a college degree or even better – a graduate school diploma (Masters Degree, MD, JD/Llb and PhD). On all the professions -being a Medical Doctor sets one apart since being the noblest among other professions with the highest responsibility of preserving lives.
Most Filipino doctors in the Philippines practice a “socialized” scheme for their professional fee, a lower discounted rate for poor and indigent patients and the standard rate for those who can really afford to pay (the standard rate are different in every medical specialties, areas of practice, and depending upon the medical societies PF norms). In the Company setting it is different since fees are paid by the industry not the individual patient-employee, but if we would follow the same philosophy – therefore the bigger the company (multinational) the higher the PF for Company MDs. This does not hold true because in reality most companies only retain doctors for compliance to governmental regulations (Labor code and OSH Standards) and international certifying bodies (ISO ,GHS and OSHAS).
For those who do believe in the spirit of fairness and fair play, Company MDs should be paid accordingly as OccMed Doctors protects the health and safety of the companies greatest asset- the employees.
Ideal Standard Minimum rate
The rate for Occupational medicine specialist (those who are fellows and diplomates of PCOM* w/c means that they are board certified specialist in the field of occupational medicine) should be atleast P800.00/hr to P1000.00**.
Reason behind the rate
The rationale for this is a doctor averages 15 minute*** per patient to do an adequate history taking, physical examination and individual treatment plan. Currently, medical consultations cost- P300 to P800 depending upon the specialty and procedure to be done for a patient. If we would get the lower range of P300/patient x 15 mins /patient = P1200/hr, so why peg it to P800-P1000.00? This is to account the fact that not all the time a physician see 4 patients in an hour or 16 patients in 4 hours etc.. in the company clinic. The time itself that a doctor spend in the clinic even without any patient should be well renumerated, why? because like any other medical and rescue personnel we are paid to wait on standby to react to any emergency incident when needed. There is no pricetag for a persons life. The P800-P1000.00/hr should be the minimum as retainership does not include other benefits (SSS, health plan, productivity incentives etc…) that a regular employee enjoys.
Other considerations
Also, consider the years of experience, the medical school, the academic/prc ranking, published papers/research, training qualifications, citations and awards for the additional rate of the applicant MD.
A piece of thought to employers and HR managers
Do remember that the next time you offer a retainership contract for your company doctor that- these professionals have studied for more than 10 years to become a doctor; spent a lot of time, sacrifice and effort to train in their respective specialities and devoted their lives to the art and science of medicine to be able to heal and save lives. Most Industries earns Billions of Pesos per year as profit, give what is due to the people that protect the health and safety of employees in your company.
Occupational medicine is our commitment and our specialty, not our hobby.
We are committed to the following in the provision of occupational medicine services:
: EXCELLENCE... Not mere adequacy.
: EFFICIENCY...No fooling around.
: FLEXIBILITY... The services you need, not the services we can sell you.
: CONVENIENCE...Services when you need them, not just when we make them available
: PREVENTION...Not waiting until the situation is out of control.
*PCOM- Philippine College of Occupational Medicine
**ideal rate among OccMed Practitioner/PCOM diplomate/fellow based on survey conducted
***Considered the standard average time a physician spent per patient
The author is a diplomate of the Philippine College of Occupational Medicine (PCOM) and a graduate of The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) College of Medicine. PCOM is an accredited Occupational Health and Safety Organization of the Bureau of Working Conditions of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), a subspecialty society under the Philippine Medical Association (PMA). PCOM is also affiliated with the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) and the Asian Association of Occupational Health (AAOH).
Link to my Other OccMed Blogs: http://www.doktorko.com/_blog/index.php?mod=blog_author&md=3554
http://www.blogger.com/profile/09894396954767142226
( just cut and paste in your web browser if the link don’t work)
e-mail me at: rmmangubat@yahoo.com
Page views: 11482
Posted on: 07/01/2011 05:34:28
Comments
- Hello Roy!
I'm Dr. Alva, the chairman of the CME committee of PCOM and chair of the scientific committee of the 34th Annual Convention of PCOM which we will hold on March 16-17. Are you going to attend the convention? If you are maybe I can invite you to be the moderator of the session where I invited the DOLE- BWC head to talk about the protection and welfare of doctors as company workers. We will now be able to discuss this standards we are talking about. Please email m at docjean88@yahoo.com. See you!
Posted by: Virginia on 02/15/2012 04:11:27