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Should more Australian doctors be salaried than paid by fee-for-service? — No

Douglas G Travis
Med J Aust 2011; 195 (5): . || doi: 10.5694/mja11.10878
Published online: 5 September 2011

Urologist and AMA Victoria past president Douglas Travis believes fee-for-service encourages productivity and transparency

From the perspective of doctors, patients and funders, fee-for-service is the best method of remuneration because it provides the best transparency, accountability and incentive for everyone. As a patient, you pay for what you get, and, as a doctor, you get paid for what you do. There are a number of claims for and against the fee-for-service model. I am focusing here on the specific issue of the best method of remuneration for a doctor’s efforts, and do not intend to address the separate issues of public versus private medicine, or free services versus out-of-pocket services.


  • 1 Western Health, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Australian Medical Association Victoria, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: dgtravis@bigpond.net.au

Competing interests:

I work in the private system on a fee-for-service basis and the public system for an hourly rate of pay.

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