GOLD Coast doctors are backing a prominent city GP who is being chased by the Federal Government for $140,000 it says she overcharged the system.
Medicare says Dr Sonu Haikerwal is a ‘high-end claimer”, accusing her of indulging in inappropriate practice and providing medical care that is irrelevant and unnecessary.
But leading Coast medical experts say patients at her Haan Health practice in Broadbeach have a greater disease burden and she is actually saving the health system by keeping them out of hospital.
The government wants Dr Haikerwal to sign an agreement that she be reprimanded, agree to certain conditions and repay the Commonwealth $140,000 but the doctor says she believes the government body has spent more than 10 times that chasing her for the past two years.
Medicare and its watchdog, the Professional Services Review, has been trying to crack down on doctors rorting the system, with its annual report this year revealing two international medical graduates recently recruited to corporate practice billed for more than 1000 GP management plans each in the space of a year.
Among the services Dr Haikerwal is accused of using too much are heart and lung tests for patients with chronic disease.
In a letter to her, Professional Services Review director Dr Bill Coote said in providing chronic disease management, she may have provided services that were not clinically relevant or met the Medicare Benefits Schedule requirements every time.
Dr S0nu Haikerwal at work at her Broadbeach practice in Niecon Plaza.
A Chronic Disease Management plan rebates $250 every two years but with the cost of nurses and equipment, Dr Haikerwal said there was no profit to be made.
About 470 patients in her 6000-patient database were on the plans which doctors said was a good thing.
Southport GP Dr Norman Hohl said a clear distinction needed to be made between doctors abusing the system and those providing high-quality care.
“They need to find the ones who are abusing the system and they can look at the appointment lists and see how long a doctor spends with a patient,” he said.
“There are really good doctors caring for people and saving their lives, saving the health system mega millions but because they’re doing more than the average GP, they get attacked.
“They’re persecuting and crucifying somebody who’s doing the right thing by her patients.
‘What they’re doing is criminal and unjust.”
Director of the General Practice Gold Coast Board and chairman of the Gold Coast Primary Health Network clinical council, Dr Lisa Beecham, analysed the Medicare data and said she found Dr Haikerwal’s practice had a “huge burden” of chronic disease, much higher than the average of 55 practices across the city.
“The data analysis of Haan Health shows a real focus on identifying chronic disease patients and effectively managing them,” she said.
“Currently Haan Health has a significant higher rate of chronic disease burden and this will skew the statical data that the Professional Services Review uses.”
Dr Haikerwal said she was hurt by the process but did not want to give up the fight.
“At the end of the day the point that needs to come across to the public is this Medicare — ‘Medi-scare’ actually — that bullies doctors with these arbitrary requirements and then you spend your whole professional life defending that,” she said.
Dr Coote yesterday told the Gold Coast Bulletin the PSR was a long, drawn-out process because of procedural fairness.
He warned that if Dr Haikerwal did not sign the agreement she would have to face a committee which could draw the process many more months.