They came to my outpatient clinic and met me when I stepped out of the examination room to see someone. There was a man in lead and a woman just behind him.
"Doctor, we have come to request you to send your patients to our laboratory" he said.
"OK" I said.
"We have a new lab dedicated to prenatal care which is birth right of women" he said. I knew about women's rights, but I preferred to let him believe he was the first person to let me know about it. It always saved time. "We offer a package of prenatal tests at a very economical rate."
"What are the tests?" I asked.
"The package includes complete blood count, urinalysis, retrovirus screening, hepatitis B screening, RPR screening, blood grouping, serum iron levels, random blood glucose, thalassemia screen, TSH assay, and hemoglobin S. The actual cost is Rs 2200/-, but we will do it for Rs. 1200/-"
"OK" I said. When some tests were not available in our hospital, we had to send them to other laboratories. This one was one among many such laboratories that had sort of sprouted around our hospital.
"What is your name, doctor?" he asked. I told him my name. "What is your phone number, doctor?" he asked.
"I prefer you do not call me" I said. "So I would not give you my phone number."
He thought it over briefly and said, in a much lowered voice, "Doctor, we give 40% of the patient's charges to the referring doctor."
So that was the reason he wanted my telephone number!
"No, thanks" I said. "My salary is adequate for my survival. You might give that much more discount to the patient."
They went away. Two things struck me as significant. One was that he was offering to do all these tests for rupees 1200-480 i.e. rupees 720/- only, which included his profit too. I could not see how he could do it, unless reports were given without actually performing those tests. The other thing was that he believed a doctor would accept his offer, and since it was unlikely I was the first doctor he had met, some doctors must have accepted his offer. The implications of these two things would be clear to readers and I refrain from putting them down here.
"Doctor, we have come to request you to send your patients to our laboratory" he said.
"OK" I said.
"We have a new lab dedicated to prenatal care which is birth right of women" he said. I knew about women's rights, but I preferred to let him believe he was the first person to let me know about it. It always saved time. "We offer a package of prenatal tests at a very economical rate."
"What are the tests?" I asked.
"The package includes complete blood count, urinalysis, retrovirus screening, hepatitis B screening, RPR screening, blood grouping, serum iron levels, random blood glucose, thalassemia screen, TSH assay, and hemoglobin S. The actual cost is Rs 2200/-, but we will do it for Rs. 1200/-"
"OK" I said. When some tests were not available in our hospital, we had to send them to other laboratories. This one was one among many such laboratories that had sort of sprouted around our hospital.
"What is your name, doctor?" he asked. I told him my name. "What is your phone number, doctor?" he asked.
"I prefer you do not call me" I said. "So I would not give you my phone number."
He thought it over briefly and said, in a much lowered voice, "Doctor, we give 40% of the patient's charges to the referring doctor."
So that was the reason he wanted my telephone number!
"No, thanks" I said. "My salary is adequate for my survival. You might give that much more discount to the patient."
They went away. Two things struck me as significant. One was that he was offering to do all these tests for rupees 1200-480 i.e. rupees 720/- only, which included his profit too. I could not see how he could do it, unless reports were given without actually performing those tests. The other thing was that he believed a doctor would accept his offer, and since it was unlikely I was the first doctor he had met, some doctors must have accepted his offer. The implications of these two things would be clear to readers and I refrain from putting them down here.
