Quality of medical care also counts

Re “Doctors’ list puts a price on care,” May 28

As a private practitioner of obstetrics/gynecology for many years, I feel compelled to respond to this article. For the patient to “shop” by price for services such as Pap smears requires a bit of common sense as well. Not mentioned in your article are the issues of waiting time, quality of care, personal touch, ease of making appointments, phone contacts and follow-up care. Quality of care and patient satisfaction are extremely important and cannot always be measured by the price. Of interest is the fact there is often a difference of only $5 to $10 per-visit co-pay between the payments of the HMO and the preferred provider organization.

As for price, any patient can call and ask the price of a service provided they can identify their coverage plan and co-pay amounts. As with any service product, the patient can choose providers, but I would urge evaluation of all aspects rather than basing the decision on price only.

MICHAEL L. FRIEDMAN MD

Torrance