Guest guest Posted December 31, 2007 Report Share Posted December 31, 2007 Regarding physicians in New Zealand… A nice group came to our last transformed meeting in Kansas City, and I bet any would be willing to dialog with those thinking of moving there. Try the TransforMed website and see if you can make a connection. www.transformed.com Best regards, Ramona Ramona G. Seidel, M.D. www.baycrossingfamilymedicine.com Your Bridge to Health polis, MD > > Email may not be totally secure and confidential. > Please consider the following: your employer may monitor your office > email home email is available to anyone who uses your computer; email > should not be used for emergencies, urgent matters, or highly > sensitive matters such as HIV/AIDS or mental health issues; I cannot > always receive or respond to emails instantaneously: I permanently > place all emails into your medical record. If you are uncomfortable > sending or receiving confidential medical information such as in this > email, please reply, and I will communicate in some other form in the > future. If I do not receive a reply from you regarding this, I will > assume that you consent to this use of email. > > From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Annie Skaggs Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 8:19 AM To: Subject: RE: Re: alternatives to Instant medical history Hi Kris, I can’t say from experience, but I have been talking to recruiters from NZ for over a year now, and I don’t think it is that hard. They are very eager to bring in primary care docs and say they will smooth over all the arrangements. Are you thinking of a temporary or permanent move? As anyone on this list knows, I am in a very tough market and should leave. It appears that there are many parts of the US where I could do better financially than I am doing here. But, again, as everyone knows, I HATE the thought of leaving. I came to Lexington for med school, in large part, because I want to live here. I love the Bluegrass…the horse industry, the Ky Horse Park, Keeneland… so I keep hanging on. BUT, in 2006, at a moment when I was really down and thinking I was going to be forced to give up and go, I got a mailing from a NZ recruiter…. It got me thinking: If I HAVE to leave, then I should at least make sure I go someplace REALLY COOL, and NZ certainly seems to meet that criteria. Other than medicine, which I love, my passions are horses, skiing, and snorkeling, and NZ has all those, in spades. In particular, there is a very vibrant horse community and many, many great horses and places to ride them. The weather is great, year round…. Last year I read several books by US ex-pats living there, and learned nothing to make me think I would anything but love it there. It’s a big move, particularly if I take my horse (costs about $5K to ship a horse there, and it’s not a risk free proposition), and if I went it would be with the intention of never coming back. Things holding me back at this point are: 1) inertia. I admit it, part of not moving is that it’s just a lot of effort. 2)hubbie’s practice is very specialized and not that portable. It has taken him a long time to build up here, and moving would probably just push him into semi retirement. 3) World Equestrian Games. In 2010, the WEG will be held here in Lexington; the first time it will ever be held outside Europe. From the first conversations with NZ I have held that if I can hang on here until then, I would, so I can be here for that. So, I am in a holding pattern, but will be actively considering more as 2010 approaches. The one thing I have NOT been able to do is connect with a doctor who is actually practicing there, to see what their complaints are. It seems NZ has a sort of hybrid system with state support AND private insurance. As best I have been able to gather, it doesn’t look like the private insurance industry is running as rough-shod over doctors as ours do, but I want to hear that from the front lines before I make any commitments. Anyway, what are you thinking? If you love the outdoors, NZ looks hard to beat! Annie From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of mkcl6@... Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 7:17 AM To: Subject: Re: Re: alternatives to Instant medical history How hard is it for an American doctor to get a license in New Zealand? seriously. Kris See AOL's top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 31, 2007 Report Share Posted December 31, 2007 > > So, I am in a holding pattern, but will be actively considering more as 2010 > approaches. The one thing I have NOT been able to do is connect with a > doctor who is actually practicing there, to see what their complaints are. > It seems NZ has a sort of hybrid system with state support AND private > insurance. As best I have been able to gather, it doesn't look like the > private insurance industry is running as rough-shod over doctors as ours do, > but I want to hear that from the front lines before I make any commitments. We deal with patients and not insurance companies. Unless the patient has an injury, and then you deal with the Accident Compensation Board. There are state subsidies for docs working as family docs but I've not heard of any difficulties in getting remuneration. Basically you set your fees and the state will top up a fixed amount. Or, you can capitalize your practice so if you have x number of patients you get paid x $ whether you see them or not. As for the weather, it's more like 9 months of winter and 3 months of summer. NZ is not a warm place in general. It has a cool climate. -- Graham Chiu http://www.synapsedirect.com Synapse-EMR - innovative electronic medical records system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 Wow, a real kiwi in our midst, virtually speaking that is? Are you really in NZ (where it has been 2008 for almost a whole day already)? Please explain “we deal with patients and not insurance companies”. So who does deal with the insurance? Do the patients seek reimbursement themselves? And what do you mean by “winter”? Snow? Freezing rain? Temps below 20 degrees Farenheit? Or grey and in the 40s? I’m dying to hear more first hand reporting, so thanks for sharing. Happy New Year, Annie From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Graham Chiu Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 2:14 PM To: Subject: Re: NEW Zealand On Jan 1, 2008 5:06 AM, RGMS wrote: > > So, I am in a holding pattern, but will be actively considering more as 2010 > approaches. The one thing I have NOT been able to do is connect with a > doctor who is actually practicing there, to see what their complaints are. > It seems NZ has a sort of hybrid system with state support AND private > insurance. As best I have been able to gather, it doesn't look like the > private insurance industry is running as rough-shod over doctors as ours do, > but I want to hear that from the front lines before I make any commitments. We deal with patients and not insurance companies. Unless the patient has an injury, and then you deal with the Accident Compensation Board. There are state subsidies for docs working as family docs but I've not heard of any difficulties in getting remuneration. Basically you set your fees and the state will top up a fixed amount. Or, you can capitalize your practice so if you have x number of patients you get paid x $ whether you see them or not. As for the weather, it's more like 9 months of winter and 3 months of summer. NZ is not a warm place in general. It has a cool climate. -- Graham Chiu http://www.synapsedirect.com Synapse-EMR - innovative electronic medical records system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 Annie I was born in NZ, received my medical training there, and my post-registration training in London. I practice as a private rheumatologist in Wellington. Unless the patient's treatment is related to an accident, you only ever deal with the patient. They have to submit their own claims to their insurance companies. A few years ago the insured population was about 50% but because of rising premiums it has dropped .. not sure to where though. I don't carry medical insurance myself. If you're a specialist, you charge the patient alone. If you're a family practitioner, then you charge the patient whatever you set your fee as less any government subsidy. > Wow, a real kiwi in our midst, virtually speaking that is? Are you really > in NZ (where it has been 2008 for almost a whole day already)? > > > > Please explain " we deal with patients and not insurance companies " . So who > does deal with the insurance? Do the patients seek reimbursement > themselves? > > > > And what do you mean by " winter " ? Snow? Freezing rain? Temps below 20 > degrees Farenheit? Or grey and in the 40s? > > I'm dying to hear more first hand reporting, so thanks for sharing. > Well, today is our 2nd month of summer. We had blue skies with sparse clouds, and the temperature peaked at 22 degrees Centigrade. Where I am the temperature does not drop below 0 degrees. But NZ is a very long island in a longitudinal attitude, and so the temperatures get higher north and colder south. Sometimes it just seems that 3/4 of the year, you can't sit outside in a t-shirt without having to wear a little more... -- Graham Chiu http://www.synapsedirect.com Synapse-EMR - innovative electronic medical records system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 I ran across this article about the medical system in New Zealand. NOt sure if it's current or objective: http://www.pnhp.org/news/2003/january/the_new_zealand_heal.php Kathy Broman and her husband have some good friends that migrated from Iowa to New Zealand a couple of years ago. She might be able to share some thoughts. > > > > So, I am in a holding pattern, but will be actively considering more as > 2010 > > approaches. The one thing I have NOT been able to do is connect with a > > doctor who is actually practicing there, to see what their complaints are. > > It seems NZ has a sort of hybrid system with state support AND private > > insurance. As best I have been able to gather, it doesn't look like the > > private insurance industry is running as rough-shod over doctors as ours > do, > > but I want to hear that from the front lines before I make any > commitments. > > We deal with patients and not insurance companies. Unless the patient > has an injury, and then you deal with the Accident Compensation Board. > > There are state subsidies for docs working as family docs but I've not > heard of any difficulties in getting remuneration. Basically you set > your fees and the state will top up a fixed amount. Or, you can > capitalize your practice so if you have x number of patients you get > paid x $ whether you see them or not. > > As for the weather, it's more like 9 months of winter and 3 months of > summer. NZ is not a warm place in general. It has a cool climate. > > -- > Graham Chiu > http://www.synapsedirect.com > Synapse-EMR - innovative electronic medical records system > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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