No residency...

[MDTDO]

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What does one do to become "general practitioner"..

I searched but found nothing conclusive; thanks

 

[edinOH]

What does one do to become "general practitioner"..

I searched but found nothing conclusive; thanks

Quit or get kicked out of your residency at anytime after your intern year.

That and get an address that begins with the words "Rural Route".

 

[docB]

This has been covered a bunch. Try some more searches.

The short version is that yes, it is theoretically possible to just do an intern year, get a license, and start working as a "general practitioner" in some states. In reality you will have trouble getting paid by any third party payers like CMS or insurance companies unless you are board certified so it's not really a viable alternative.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

In reality you will have trouble getting paid by any third party payers like CMS or insurance companies unless you are board certified so it's not really a viable alternative.

I was concerned about this compensation issue and have talked to various coding trainers and they all said 'COMPENSATION IS THE SAME AS LONG AS THE BILLING CODE IS THE SAME' (and the billing code is the same for the same procedures)

 

[AJM]

I was concerned about this compensation issue and have talked to various coding trainers and they all said 'COMPENSATION IS THE SAME AS LONG AS THE BILLING CODE IS THE SAME' (and the billing code is the same for the same procedures)

Yes, the billing codes are the same, however you first have to get an insurance company to agree to pay for your services before you can even send them your billing codes. Patients with Insurance X won't want to even go to a physician who is not on Insurance X's provider network list.

 

[fourthyearmed]

There really is no such thing. What you probably want to do is become a Family Practice doc (3 years).

 

[docB]

I was concerned about this compensation issue and have talked to various coding trainers and they all said 'COMPENSATION IS THE SAME AS LONG AS THE BILLING CODE IS THE SAME' (and the billing code is the same for the same procedures)

AJM is exactly right. You can bill the same, actually you can bill whatever you want, but no one will pay you.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

AJM is exactly right. You can bill the same, actually you can bill whatever you want, but no one will pay you.

That's really interesting... does this also apply to older general practitioners? My doc is a general and he accepts my PPO insurance (and they reimburse him) and all I pay is my co-pay.

 

[docB]

That's really interesting... does this also apply to older general practitioners? My doc is a general and he accepts my PPO insurance (and they reimburse him) and all I pay is my co-pay.

The term "general practitioner" doesn't really mean anything specific. People and docs use it to refer to internists and FPs. In this thread we're using it to refer to docs who only completed an internship and are therefore not board certified in anything. If your doc is actually boarded in somthing but still calls himself a GP then this whole discussion doesn't apply to him. If he is indeed a non-boarded GP then it is possible that he grandfathered into the insurance programs in the area. In terms of this discussion if you skip residency and are not boarded you will find it very difficult to get approved by insurers for reimbursement. If you are grandfathered you would find it very difficult to move to a new area and get reimbursed.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

The term "general practitioner" doesn't really mean anything specific. People and docs use it to refer to internists and FPs. In this thread we're using it to refer to docs who only completed an internship and are therefore not board certified in anything. If your doc is actually boarded in somthing but still calls himself a GP then this whole discussion doesn't apply to him. If he is indeed a non-boarded GP then it is possible that he grandfathered into the insurance programs in the area. In terms of this discussion if you skip residency and are not boarded you will find it very difficult to get approved by insurers for reimbursement. If you are grandfathered you would find it very difficult to move to a new area and get reimbursed.

He is a GP as in did only an internship but older doc. I spoke to him about this before and he said there is no such thing as reimbursement issues and all for new GPs. I think it's a myth but your argument has definately led to further research on this topic. Thanks.