Moonlighting Compensation

[heyjack70]

I'm considering getting setup to do psych disability evaluations for some extra money. There are companies listed on locums websites that get office space and sound like they set everything up, then you see the patient and write up the eval. Has anyone done these? What compensation should I expect? Pitfalls or warnings about this type of work?

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[TexasPhysician]

I've heard that reimbursement for disability evals has decreased. Maybe this is regional....? Ive heard $75 per eval, but I haven't done it myself.

 

[Bartelby]

What goes into a disability evaluation? I thought those were filled out by physicians who have followed the patient for some time.

 

[nitemagi]

I did them briefly during residency. Paid Really low since I wasn't boarded ($40/eval). Plus I found it more stressful than any other moonlighting gig (including jails).

 

[atsai3]

I did them briefly during residency. Paid Really low since I wasn't boarded ($40/eval). Plus I found it more stressful than any other moonlighting gig (including jails).

I've never done it, only heard about it. Curious, why did you find it more stressful than jail moonlighting?

 

[nitemagi]

I've never done it, only heard about it. Curious, why did you find it more stressful than jail moonlighting?

Little collateral information, too little time per person, and realizing I had a large role to pay in whether some of these people might end up homeless (recognizing that many on disability is BS). Add to that they had idiots for transcriptionists and I had to basically rewrite all my notes from scratch.

 

[Faebinder]

Ask the previous graduates of your program where to moonlight. I am sure they know.

The rates here where I am vary from $80 to $150 per hours depending of what they want from you to do.... rates per patient is a different story.

 

[alina_s]

I did disability evaluations as a resident; there weren't many options in the area and in a call-heavy program, I didn't want anything involving overnight shifts. It was pretty bad. I worked with a company, who arranged all of the appointments and had a (terrible) transcription service. The offices were so bad that on orientation questions, it wasn't rare to get "in your cruddy office." A few locations borrowed local providers' clinics but most of them were poorly laid out rental spaces with incredibly cheap-looking furniture, not cleaned on any regular basis, in strip malls. Safety concerns- at the end of a long hallway away from the front desk, no working phone. One day, the CNA noticed somebody's guns and bandolier when he took off his jacket for vitals but didn't tell me until after the visit. That was the second to last day I worked for them, and I already had the last day scheduled. No kind of concern or apology from the management. I had 45 minutes per patient, booked back to back 8 to 6:30, occasionally double booked. 45 minutes wasn't enough and the records that we got as background were terrible, often missing pages out of evaluations, and who know what records were completely missing. Never again. However, another resident defected to a different agency and I think it was better. I also think that it is technically possible to arrange your own evaluations on your own schedule, but I have no idea how.

 

[heyjack70]

I did disability evaluations as a resident; there weren't many options in the area and in a call-heavy program, I didn't want anything involving overnight shifts. It was pretty bad. I worked with a company, who arranged all of the appointments and had a (terrible) transcription service. The offices were so bad that on orientation questions, it wasn't rare to get "in your cruddy office." A few locations borrowed local providers' clinics but most of them were poorly laid out rental spaces with incredibly cheap-looking furniture, not cleaned on any regular basis, in strip malls. Safety concerns- at the end of a long hallway away from the front desk, no working phone. On day, the CNA noticed somebody's guns and bandolier when he took off his jacket for vitals but didn't tell me until after the visit. That was the second to last day I worked for them, and I already had the last day scheduled. No kind of concern or apology from the management. I had 45 minutes per patient, booked back to back 8 to 6:30, occasionally double booked. 45 minutes wasn't enough and the records that we got as background were terrible, often missing pages out of evaluations, and who know what records were completely missing. Never again. However, another resident defected to a different agency and I think it was better. I also think that it is technically possible to arrange your own evaluations on your own schedule, but I have no idea how.

That sounds rough. Do you recall what you were paid?

 

[alina_s]

Pay varied by site- I think it was $70/patient for the sites closest to town, $90 for the more distant sites (some ~60 miles), for the patients who showed up. I think that the contractor was paid $200-something per patient.