Health Insurance Doctor Ratings - Follow the Money

Here's a real test of our ability to be smart patients and good consumers at the same time.

Several national health insurers are rolling out their versions of doctor ratings, and telling consumers that they can use these ratings to choose good quality doctors for their care. Aetna, Blue Cross, CIGNA and others have made ratings available in NY, Connecticut, Texas, Oregon and other areas of the country.

As wise patients, it's good information for us to have, right? .... Not so fast.

Think for a moment about WHO is making this information available. Health insurers? OK -- so what are their criteria for these ratings? It's become clear to everyone from doctors to lawyers, even to the Attorney General of NY State -- the best ratings are reserved for those doctors who charge the least for their services.

It's not about the quality of care. It's about money.

As I pondered this, reading news reports and other's blogs and commentary, I was first struck by the gall of these insurance companies. It's bad enough they get in the way of my time with my doctor. Now they are going to try to fool me into believing the "quality" doctors are the ones that they just happen to know charge less for their services? What rock do they think I've been living under?

But then I thought about it a bit further. In fact, the smart consumer side of me understands that one reason our healthcare is so expensive is because we patients are removed from the payment system. We pay the health insurance company, then the health insurance company pays the doctor. Therefore, we don't really comprehend the corner of our healthcare that relates to how much doctors charge.

Then I thought of it this way. If I need my kitchen faucet fixed, I will call a plumber. My judgment on his abilities will be a combination of how well he does the job PLUS how much he charges to do it. So, why should my choice of doctor be done any differently?

Yes -- depending on why I need to see my doctor, maybe my choice will be affected by knowing how much he charges -- or maybe not. But it does bring consumerism into the equation, and that should be an important aspect of being a wise patient and smart healthcare consumer.

To be honest, for now I just do not trust those health insurance companies and their ratings. Sorry -- to this point they've done nothing to assure me they have my best interests at heart. I won't be using their ratings.

Besides, there are plenty of good ratings sites out there already. I'll stick with the ones I trust.