I seen this MSNBC video on bartering; it featured an OD who barters his services. Guess this will start becoming more frequent now due to the healthcare.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/33455388#33455312
I've never been part of a formalized barter exchange like that doctor but before I purchased my practice, I worked out of an office that was right next to a small garage. The mechanics who worked there were forever getting crap in their eyes and their employer provided no health insurance. I don't think I paid for repairs on my car for the entire 3 years I worked there.
Also, at my current location, I have never really bartered for routine care or glasses but I've had patients phone the office in pain, or with some sort of problem who have no insurance. We always tell them to just come in and we'll sort out the bill later. Very rarely are the problems anything particularly serious so what I've sometimes done is say to people "Look...the bill is $100, (or $300 or whatever it is).....if you can pay it in full, please do so. If you can not, we will take whatever you can give us as payment in full, even if it's nothing and no hard feelings at all."
Most patients pay something. Virtually all have been incredibly grateful. I've had patients bring in homemade cookies. I had one lady from Hungary make a big pot of Hungarian goulash and brought it in for the entire staff. I had one guy once brought a Hibachi and made a barbecue lunch for the staff. (for that guy, we really tried to tell him that it wasn't necessary, but he insisted on making this whole huge production.)
My philosophy has always been that our office is a family practice in a family town. We're not going to let people suffer for lack of health insurance. And no, we don't do colored contact lenses blah blah blah under those circumstances.
And the funny thing, many doctors seem to have this attitude that if you do things like that, it's going to cause a stream of deadbeats to line up at your door for their "free" eye care. In all my nearly 10 years of doing this, I can think of only ONE single solitary time I ever felt I was taken advantage of and it was actually by a staff members cousin or something like that.
