Last week we posted a very interesting article in the New York Times about the shortage of doctors and the way he is about to get much worse. You are probably thinking that this is imminent shortage of doctors due to the passage of health reform, but you’d be surprised how many of them have nothing to do with health care reform. Concierge medicine may be more of an option than you ever realized.
As recently as 2005, over two thirds of medical practices owned by physicians – a resource that has been relatively constant for many years, the Medical Group Management Association, says. But within three years, that share dropped below 50 percent, and analysts say that the slide has continued. (NYTimes)
medical students not only opting out of primary care and specialty practices again, the few who are opting for primary care are graduating with student debt as they have no choice but to accept salaried positions in hospitals and health systems. Since there is no incentive for students to open, or even work in private practice.
Medical
wages are decreasing while expenses are increasing. Their hours are getting longer, while their families are suffering. Patients who are receiving “assembly line” of treatment and diagnosis rather than proactive care, preventive health, because the doctors are taking on more and more of them to cover costs. Where does it end?
According to the New York Times article, patients are losing the “intimacy of the old doctor-patient relationship” when physicians are choosing to pay more attention. It’s such a juxtaposition, an ironic reality, where graduate students are turning to paid jobs where you can earn more and spend less time with patients, and are respected for their decisions. However, if a family doctor who has been practicing for years decides to convert to a concierge practice to become a physician can more effectively spend more time providing affordable medicines to prevent the average man carrying large (companies insurance), which is very bad about.
Maybe someday we’ll dive into the psychology behind a patient’s reactions to medicine concierge. Would be an interesting study to understand why such ideas as medicine interesting answers. But I digress.
What is interesting about the decline of private practice is simply not equipped to handle the changes that health care has to be doing. For example, consider electronic health records. Is now required that health reform has passed, but the privacy practices simply do not have the time, money or resources to convert their practices electronically. These systems are very expensive and very slow to set up. Imagine that the transfer of all the pieces of paperwork around the office to digital. It would take a lifetime. Small practices can not compete with larger organizations that have people who do nothing more than data transfer.
major medical change away from private practice may be painful, and often are mistaken for younger doctors’ embrace of salaried positions.
“When I was young, that did not blink when standing guard all the time, going to the hospital, remain all night,” said Dr. Gordon Hughes, president of the board of the Indiana State Medical Association “. But young people now out of formation do not want to call too much and do not want the risk of buying a practice, but still want a good lifestyle and a big salary. You can not have both. “
Concierge medical
kind of do both. This is the interesting thing about this whole debate, because when converting to a concierge practice, salary increases, improved physician-patient relationship because the availability of 24-7 and the state guard, the quality of care improves, and things are generally pretty good.