Dr. Joshua John‑Ram Schacter argues that physicians have a responsibility to discuss financial matters with patients rather than delegating financial decisions to insurers, hospital administrators, or other third parties. He contends that delegating these responsibilities has removed physician autonomy over money and harmed direct doctor–patient financial interactions.
Patients should be able to know what they're paying for, and you should be able to discuss that with them. As a physician, I had a class in medical school where some from an insurance company came in and said, you guys really shouldn't need to worry about finance. It's your duty as physicians to treat the patient. Why don't you let us worry about that? So what we've done is we've abrogated our responsibility to hospital CEOs, to your practice manager, to your wife, to an insurance company, to another agency. And it's taken your autonomy with money away. It's taken that interaction with your patient away. Patients should be able to know what they're paying for, and you should be able to discuss that with them. As a physician, I feel very strongly about that.
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