They said I can't refer people and be compensated??????

[hatemynips]

Today I was working on a proposal to my surgeon to have my surgery paid for by referring others to him. They told me this couldn't be done and said the following:

"What you are asking for cannot be done.  This goes against the American Board of Plastic Surgery and Dr. Albin could lose his certification with them."


Is this true?

[Grandpa Bambu]

How old are you dude?

GB

[hatemynips]

26

[Twin Peaks]

The American Board of Plastic Surgery does seem to have very strict rules when it comes to advertising for their practice, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's true.  Wait for one of the surgeons on this board to chime in and see what they say. 

[MSJ108]

lol thats great ur tried that

haha sure is. You are out there hustling! Love it!

[DenverGuy]

As anyone can tell, I have great regard for Dr. Albin. I've posted a lot of different messages on this forum both because I think he's a good doc but more importantly because I learned about how I could get surgery to greatly improve my life through this web site, and I want to get the good word out there.

That being said, GOOD, REPUTABLE plastic surgeons need to be very careful not to "hustle" for their work. I'm not even sure Dr. Albin even advertises anywhere except basically by word of mouth. One of the things I respected about him was how low-key and non-pressuring he was. He said he thought he could help me, and that was about it. So I can't imagine him agreeing to a referral program - even if it was legal.

But I like your initiative! Best wishes.

[George Pope, M.D.]

There are possibly two issues at stake here, an ethical issue and a legal issue.  I know that doctors cannot pay other doctors any kind of money for referring them patients.  There's an "anti- kick back" law that prevents it.  We as physicians cannot "split" a fee, that is, I can't accept a patient's fee for service and turn around and give part of it to the physician who referred the patient.  It's flat out illiegal, although lawyers can apparently do that.    They are allowed to pay referral fees, realtors can pay other realtors "finders fees" or split commissions.  The legal system is very strict about doctors doing this, I suppose it could be construed as taking advantage of sick people or something.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is very rigid in the ethical area, and rightly so.  Although we are allowed to "market" or "advertise" through typical channels, such as print media, broadcast media, etc., it's considered unethical if we directly pay a patient to refer another.  We cannot even donate our services in a charity auction, and I'm approached all the time about that.  The reason for that is, someone who wins the auction may not really be a candidate for plastic surgery, then the ps is in an awkward position- that patient has won something he or she can't collect on.

This was a little long; hope it helps tho.

BTW Hatemynips, aren't you postop now??  Surgeons can give discounts to patients if they want to, but if you've already paid for your surgery and had it, that won't work.

Dr. Pope, M.D.