Chapter I: Front Matter

LARGE FEES
AND HOW TO GET THEM

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A BOOK FOR THE PRIVATE USE
OF PHYSICIANS

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BY
ALBERT V. HARMON, M.D.

WITH INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER BY
G. FRANK LYDSTON, M.D.

W. J. JACKMAN, PUBLISHER
121–127 PLYMOUTH COURT
CHICAGO

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Copyright, 1911
By W. J. JACKMAN

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LARGE FEES

AND

HOW TO GET THEM

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CONTENTS

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CHAPTER I.

MEDICINE AS A BUSINESS. Why Medicine as 11
Ordinarily Followed Is a Failure From the
Business Standpoint—Physicians Themselves
Mainly Responsible—Queer Ideas About
Philanthropy—Poor Business Methods—Tactics
that Pauperize One-half the
Patients—Doctors Easy Prey for
Sharpers—Evils of Medical
Colleges—“Charitable” Hospitals Injure
Regular Practitioners—Free Clinics and
Dispensaries—The Medical “Tin
God”—Absurdities of Ethics—How Some
Physicians Get Notoriety—Freaks of the
Profession—Things the Young Practitioner
Should Avoid

CHAPTER II.

THE PHYSICIAN WHO SUCCEEDS. Qualifications 31
for a Big Fee-Getting Practitioner—The Kind
of Men Who Make Money in the Practice of
Medicine—Business Mistakes in the
Profession—Why Many Doctors
Fail—Old-Fashioned Ideas as to Set Fees—No
Reason Why Physicians Should Not Use
Judgment in Placing a Monetary Value on
Their Services—Prompt Collection of Bills
an Important Item—Attorneys, Architects,
and Other Professional Men Afford Good
Examples of Business Sense—The Beard and
Its Dangers—Necessity for Scrupulous
Cleanliness—An Experience in Iowa—Reasons
Why Many Physicians Fail—Psychological
Factor an Important One

CHAPTER III.

THE BUGBEAR OF ETHICS. Intimidation of Young 43
Physicians—Overdoing the Ethical
Proposition—Spying on the Beginners
Illogical Advice—How Some Men Become
Wealthy and Famous by Doing the Very Things
They Denounce in Others—Clever Evasions of
the Code—Schemes by Which Valuable
Publicity Is Obtained—Actual Incidents
Illustrating Methods Prevalent Among
Physicians Who Keep Themselves Constantly
Before the Public—Working the
Newspapers—Employment of Press Agents—How
They Get Free Write-ups for Their
Principals—Fine Work by a Chicago Man in
Popularizing a New Treatment—The Making of
a Sensation—Newspaper Story that Made
Certain Ethical Gentlemen
Wealthy—Administration of Unknown
Preparations by High Apostles of Ethics

CHAPTER IV.

LAWFUL TO ADVERTISE. Publicity Within Certain 61
Lines Necessary and Legitimate—Progressive
Physicians Ignore Old Rule—Courts Uphold
Right of Doctors to Make Their
Qualifications Known in the Public
Press—Time Brings Radical Changes—Numerous
Reasons Why a Competent Practitioner Should
Advertise—Futility of “Ethical”
Opposition—Severe Judicial Rebuke for
Medical Society Leaders Who Attempt to
Debar and Discredit Men Who
Advertise—Finding in the Celebrated Dr.
McCoy Case—Indecent and Obnoxious
Advertising—The Proper Kind—How to Obtain
Valuable Publicity in a Dignified Manner