Online Therapy for Physician Burnout: The Insurance Game
In healthcare, the decision to accept or reject insurance coverage plays an important role in patient experience and how services are delivered by healthcare providers. As you know, navigating this insurance game is challenging. It’s the same in the mental health field as in the medical field.
In this blog, I examine why many psychotherapists who offer online therapy do not accept insurance. I also explore how this impacts ethical considerations and patient care. This article will draw parallels with the broader medical field.
Insurance Bureaucracy & Physician Burnout
One of the main reasons why mental health professionals opt out of insurance panels is the burden of bureaucracy. Psychotherapists are often required to go through a pile of paperwork, strict guidelines, and delayed reimbursements if they sign up for an insurance panel.
As someone who is a skilled clinician, I know that my time is best spent providing high-quality client care rather than paperwork. Administrative work often eats away precious time and energy for the day, which can compromise the quality of care for my clients.
Similar yet different challenges are faced in the medical field, which can lead to burnout among physicians. Not only are you juggling 15-minute patient visits while meeting the documentation demands of insurance companies, you also have your inbox as well as other non-clinical tasks that the admin wants you to complete. When physicians are burning out, many get online therapy for physician burnout to deal with all the systemic issues that insurance also contributes to.
Reimbursement Rates & Value of Services
It is important to note that insurance companies often set their reimbursement rates in a way that undervalues the services provided by healthcare professionals. In the therapy world, their rates usually fail to reflect the time, expertise, and individualized care that is offered by therapists to their mental health patients. As an example, let’s compare the rates of a lawyer vs a psychotherapist. They both have master’s degrees and must pass a board exam to practice. In the United States, the average hourly rate for lawyers is between $250 and $350. The average hourly reimbursement rate for a psychotherapist is about $150 or 43% of that of a lawyer. Oh how insurance value mental health services.
This undervaluation does not happen only with mental health professionals. In general, medical professionals across different specialties also face similar frustrations. If you look at the records, Medicare payments have declined 26% from 2001 to 2023 when you adjust for inflation. If you run your own medical practice, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
It’s no wonder why many physicians are providing services outside the traditional insurance network, such as direct primary care or concierge medicine. I know specifically where I live, it’s hard to come by a great primary care physician who isn’t providing concierge medicine or direct primary care. In psychotherapy terms, these are clinicians who do not accept insurance and are cash-paying only. This allows healthcare professionals to set a fair price for their services that aligns with the true value of patient care that they provide. Ultimately, the result is better patient outcomes along with provider satisfaction. This is important as we often undermine the value of our healthcare providers.
Ethical Considerations & Patient Care
Many physicians face ethical dilemmas when it comes to dealing with the insurance game. The constraints imposed by insurance companies can lead to compromised patient care. This is because providers might be pressured to work a certain way to meet insurance expectations. Moral injury anyone?
Many physicians may be required to see more patients in less time or adhere to treatment protocols that do not fully align with their clinical judgment. This can damage the trust between the patient and the provider. This leads to a decrease in the quality of patient care. For psychotherapists, seeing more patients will put the provider into a conundrum of being able to put food on the table or provide care that isn’t the highest quality. The more patients a psychotherapist sees per week, the higher the likelihood of burnout.
By choosing not to accept insurance, providers can maintain autonomy in their practice. This ensures that patient care remains the top priority without external interference.
The decision to opt out of insurance networks is not made lightly. It reflects a commitment to preserving the quality and integrity of care in an increasingly complex system. Those who have no choice but to deal with the insurance game may find online therapy for physician burnout helpful to deal with the stress that comes with patient care.
Reach out for Therapy for Physician Burnout
When you’re ready to start therapy with Chris Rabanera, take the first steps with a free 15-minute consultation. I provide online therapy in California, online therapy in Michigan, online therapy in Nebraska, online therapy in Las Vegas, and online therapy in Utah. As an experienced therapist, I specialize in physician burnout, grief counseling, anxiety, and depression. I also provide mental health treatment for men.
