How does a GP Doctor Get paid?

Question

hourly, each constumers.

What happens if the doctor has no one for a hour or 2?

Answer 1

You don't even tell us what country you're in!

In the old days, it was piece-work. You got what the patient paid. If you had no patients, you didn't get paid. Now, in many practices, it's a more complicated version of the same thing, but the payment comes from insurers, and the costs of billing are enormous. Group practices often have some way of distributing both costs and payments, and both location and the individual contracts vary widely.

In the US, one reason so few are going into private practice now is that it costs about $150k/year to run the practice, and if you don't generate twice that income from seeing patients, you're not going to do well. No patients, no income; but the expenses keep going on.

That, by the way, is one reason doctors are upset when the government plans to cut payments by 10%, as they very nearly did this month. There's nobody cutting doctors' supply costs, rent, light bills, or salaries for the employees, and many of those expenses go up faster than the general cost of living.

Answer 2

not as much as people think.. considering the fact that medical school by itself averages $200,000 year. It depends on where you live, if you are in private practice, the size of your practice, size of your city, etc. Most people think they make a LOT of money..They don't think about the money that goes out for malpractice insurance, supplies, rent, utilities, etc. and staff, nurses, etc. and if the patients are on Medicare/Medicaid or some govt program, they actually only get paid about 50% of what they get with private insurance.. and now the govt is cutting it again. Most doctors around here schedule at least 2 people for every 15 min. slot..that way if one doesn't show, the other will.. VERY VERY seldom will the MD ever have more than a 30 min break at a time.