Questions raised over doctors' billings

A handful of Winnipeg doctors working in clinics in one of the city's poorest areas billed the province for more than double — in some cases triple — what the average Manitoba family doctor did.

According to Manitoba Health's annual report on compensation, Dr. Anil Sud of the Point Douglas Community Clinic on Main Street billed Manitoba Health for $821,085 in 2009.

At another clinic not far from where Sud works, Dr. Anton Kloppers billed $528,243 to Manitoba Health last year.

The average family doctor in Manitoba billed the province for about $250,000.

The billings are not a statement of salary.

Most doctors in Manitoba bill the province for each service they provide.

The compensation disclosure figures released by the province do not account for the doctors' overhead or supplies.

Using basic rates of cost-per-service, another doctor said Sud would have to have had 36,000 separate patient visits to generate the billing total he did.

Dr. Mike Dillon of Klinic on Portage Avenue said he questioned how the doctors generated such high billings.

"That would be seeing one patient every 15 minutes, around the clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year to get that kind of billing.

"I can't see how someone can do that," Dillon said.

Four Rivers Medical Clinic is open and accessible to the public seven days a week and has an after-hours clinic.

Sud did not return calls seeking comment on this story, and Kloppers declined an interview.

Manitoba's assistant Deputy Minister of Health Terry Goertzen says all doctors' claims for fees are monitored.

He says in the last five years, 15 Manitoba doctors who billed more than $500,000 were audited, and problems were discovered in 5 cases.

"When patients are telling us, telling media or others that certain practices are going on, those are things that would concern us, and I think we will continue to monitor this situation as well," Goertzen said.  

Manitoba Health's public compensation disclosure report can be found here.