Outliers: Maryland docs say no to more 'reimbursement'

Whereas terms such as “reimbursement” instead of “payment” and “provider” instead of “physician” really get on some doctors' nerves, the 22,000-member Maryland State Medical Society has resolved to do something about it.

As Outliers has made it our mission to eliminate jargon wherever we see it, this is certainly an effort we can stand behind.

The Maryland docs introduced a resolution to be debated at the upcoming American Medical Association House of Delegates meeting taking place June 16-20 in Chicago that would make it AMA policy that the word “payment” be used instead of “reimbursement” in “all communications that relate to financial transactions between physicians and third-party payers.”

The resolution defines reimbursement as “a repayment for expense or loss incurred,” and payment as “the provision of a certain amount of money in exchange for services rendered.” And it notes that payment is a more accurate description as “the physician has not incurred an expense or loss to the third-party payer that would qualify for a 'reimbursement.' ”

“For our members, words matter,” says Gene Ransom, CEO of the medical society. “And there are certain words that just grate on my members' minds like fingernails on a chalkboard.” Ransom describes “reimbursement” as “an insurance industry term,” and its use is just one small way the practice of medicine is becoming a commodity.

And just maybe, Ransom says, these words are used because “it's easier to retroactively deny reimbursement than it is to retroactively deny payment.”