I completely agree!  I hate this whole idea of referral fees, it just seems
completely unethical and unprofessional.  I know people who do it here also,
and have said the same thing to me.  Personally, if I knew that a
practitioner that I was seeing was getting paid a referral fee for referring
me to someone, I would feel very uncomfortable and my trust would be
compromised.

Physicians here do not do this, it only seems to be among other types of
services.  It is a complete conflict of interest, and I feel it is any
practitioner's obligation to make referrals to people and services that best
serve the client, with no thought of any kickbacks.  That is just part of
our job, to make appropriate referrals.  And anyone who works with pregnant
or postpartum women should be making referrals to lactation consultants that
they feel would do a good job, when the client is in need of or could
benefit from that.  That is just part of their job too, in my opinion.

Sonya


On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 7:51 PM, Nina Berry <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Where I live it would be considered unethical for health care professionals
> to request or pay referral fees.  It sets up a potential conflict between
> the referring party's own financial interests and his/her professional
> obligation to the patient to refer to the most competent qualified
> professional who can assist with the patient's issues.  I would not be
> interested in working with anyone who charges referral fees.
> Nina Berry
> Australia
>
>

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