The Pediatrician and the Public

Abstract

The purpose of this article has been to discuss certain aspects of a pediatric group partnership agreement and to outline one possible method of setting up pre-payment financing in a pediatric practice. Some assistance may from this be given to those doctors who are in the process of their planning. It is hoped that other pediatricians who have had parallel experience will contribute further discussion concerning either subject, so that this section in Pediatrics can serve as a well-rounded help in planning the relationships and the finances within a pediatric office. Any group of doctors desiring to work together in medical practice will produce a partnership arrangement which meets the individual desires and needs of the members involved. We have mentioned here a few of the issues which must be discussed and settled. There will of course be as many different ways of solving these issues as there are doctors combining in groups, since the human personality varies widely. Our effort has been to settle these issues in such a way as to allow for the greatest universality of control and the greatest unity of organization within our group of physicians. Pre-payment pediatric care, by comparison with pay-per-visit care, tends to carry a different emphasis with greater interest in preventive medicine and in the normal health problems of childhood growth. The degree of this emphasis in a doctor's practice toward well child care and away from illness care is determined by the amount of time that a particular pediatrician allots to routine health supervision visits. A given pediatrician's interest in trying out or in enlarging the pre-payment method of financing in his practice will be influenced by his own desire to emphasize preventive medicine.