|
| Page 1, 2 |
WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession
|
The_Venerable
User ID: 412220
11/18/2008 8:13 AM
Report abusive post | WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession
| Quote |
Half of primary-care doctors in survey would leave medicine
By Val Willingham
CNN Medical Producer
CNN) -- Nearly half the respondents in a survey of U.S. primary care physicians said that they would seriously consider getting out of the medical business within the next three years if they had an alternative.
The survey, released this week by the Physicians' Foundation, which promotes better doctor-patient relationships, sought to find the reasons for an identified exodus among family doctors and internists, widely known as the backbone of the health industry.
A U.S. shortage of 35,000 to 40,000 primary care physicians by 2025 was predicted at last week's American Medical Association annual meeting.
In the survey, the foundation sent questionnaires to more than 150,000 doctors nationwide.
Of the 12,000 respondents, 49 percent said they'd consider leaving medicine. Many said they are overwhelmed with their practices, not because they have too many patients, but because there's too much red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies.
And if that many physicians stopped practicing, that could be devastating to the health care industry.
"We couldn't survive that," says Dr. Walker Ray, vice president of the Physicians Foundation. "We are only producing in this country a thousand to two thousand primary doctors to replace them. Medical students are not choosing primary care."
Dr. Alan Pocinki has been practicing medicine for 17 years. He began his career around the same time insurance companies were turning to the PPO and HMO models. So he was a little shocked when he began spending more time on paperwork than patients and found he was running a small business, instead of a practice. He says it's frustrating.
"I had no business training, as far as how to run a business, or how to evaluate different plans," Pocinki says. "It was a whole brave new world and I had to sort of learn on the fly."
To manage their daily work schedules, many survey respondents reported making changes. With lower reimbursement from insurance companies and the cost of malpractice insurance skyrocketing, these health professionals say it's not worth running a practice and are changing careers. Others say they're going into so-called boutique medicine, in which they charge patients a yearly fee up front and don't take insurance.
And some like Pocinki are limiting the type of insurance they'll take and the number of patients on Medicare and Medicaid. According to the foundation's report, over a third of those surveyed have closed their practices to Medicaid patients and 12 percent have closed their practices to Medicare patients That can leave a lot of patients looking for a doctor.
And as Ray mentioned, med school students are shying away from family medicine. In a survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September, only 2 percent of current medical students plan to take up primary care. That's because these students are wary of the same complaints that are causing existing doctors to flee primary care: hectic clinics, burdensome paperwork and systems that do a poor job of managing patients with chronic illness.
So what to do? Physicians don't have a lot of answers. But doctors say it's time to make some changes, not only in the health care field but also with the insurance industry. And they're looking to the new administration for guidance.
One of President-elect Barack Obama's health care promises is to provide a primary care physician for every American. But some health experts, including Pocinki, are skeptical.
"People who have insurance can't find a doctor, so suddenly we are going to give insurance to a whole bunch of people who haven't had it, without increasing the number of physicians?" he says. "It's going to be a problem."
[link to www.cnn.com] |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 482097
11/18/2008 8:21 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
insurance companies, bankers, lawyers, politicians...the least creative bunch of people in society, yet they're at the "top", leaching off of the hard work and creative talent of the people
i hope that picture changes soon |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 553665
11/18/2008 8:28 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Half of primary-care doctors in survey would leave medicine
By Val Willingham
CNN Medical Producer
CNN) -- Nearly half the respondents in a survey of U.S. primary care physicians said that they would seriously consider getting out of the medical business within the next three years if they had an alternative.
The survey, released this week by the Physicians' Foundation, which promotes better doctor-patient relationships, sought to find the reasons for an identified exodus among family doctors and internists, widely known as the backbone of the health industry.
A U.S. shortage of 35,000 to 40,000 primary care physicians by 2025 was predicted at last week's American Medical Association annual meeting.
In the survey, the foundation sent questionnaires to more than 150,000 doctors nationwide.
Of the 12,000 respondents, 49 percent said they'd consider leaving medicine. Many said they are overwhelmed with their practices, not because they have too many patients, but because there's too much red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies.
And if that many physicians stopped practicing, that could be devastating to the health care industry.
"We couldn't survive that," says Dr. Walker Ray, vice president of the Physicians Foundation. "We are only producing in this country a thousand to two thousand primary doctors to replace them. Medical students are not choosing primary care."
Dr. Alan Pocinki has been practicing medicine for 17 years. He began his career around the same time insurance companies were turning to the PPO and HMO models. So he was a little shocked when he began spending more time on paperwork than patients and found he was running a small business, instead of a practice. He says it's frustrating.
"I had no business training, as far as how to run a business, or how to evaluate different plans," Pocinki says. "It was a whole brave new world and I had to sort of learn on the fly."
To manage their daily work schedules, many survey respondents reported making changes. With lower reimbursement from insurance companies and the cost of malpractice insurance skyrocketing, these health professionals say it's not worth running a practice and are changing careers. Others say they're going into so-called boutique medicine, in which they charge patients a yearly fee up front and don't take insurance.
And some like Pocinki are limiting the type of insurance they'll take and the number of patients on Medicare and Medicaid. According to the foundation's report, over a third of those surveyed have closed their practices to Medicaid patients and 12 percent have closed their practices to Medicare patients That can leave a lot of patients looking for a doctor.
And as Ray mentioned, med school students are shying away from family medicine. In a survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September, only 2 percent of current medical students plan to take up primary care. That's because these students are wary of the same complaints that are causing existing doctors to flee primary care: hectic clinics, burdensome paperwork and systems that do a poor job of managing patients with chronic illness.
So what to do? Physicians don't have a lot of answers. But doctors say it's time to make some changes, not only in the health care field but also with the insurance industry. And they're looking to the new administration for guidance.
One of President-elect Barack Obama's health care promises is to provide a primary care physician for every American. But some health experts, including Pocinki, are skeptical.
"People who have insurance can't find a doctor, so suddenly we are going to give insurance to a whole bunch of people who haven't had it, without increasing the number of physicians?" he says. "It's going to be a problem."
[ link to www.cnn.com] Quoting: The_Venerable 412220
when the medical field becomes even more socialized under Obama,(something u lefties were hopping mad for) then there is no point in working for peanuts, after 10 plus years of College. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 553689
11/18/2008 8:54 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
The US healthcare system has priced itself out of reach of the citizens and is about to undergo a radical downsizing.
On a price performance basis, it is the worst in the world. We'd be better off with witch doctors. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 553696
11/18/2008 9:07 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
"healthcare" is practically the only job left on the planet |
|
The_Venerable
User ID: 412220 (OP)
11/18/2008 9:09 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
The US healthcare system has priced itself out of reach of the citizens and is about to undergo a radical downsizing.
On a price performance basis, it is the worst in the world. We'd be better off with witch doctors. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 553689
It's not really even a healthcare system. It's an insurance care system. |
|
Cunning_linguist
User ID: 552663
11/18/2008 9:17 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
I have a team of Doctors who cut my grass and wash my cars. One of em' just sits next to me and changes the channel on the TV for me. Batteries in remotes are really bad for the environment ya know.
De Bunker Hiding in a Bunker. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 420659
11/18/2008 9:20 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
insurance companies, bankers, lawyers, politicians...the least creative bunch of people in society, yet they're at the "top", leaching off of the hard work and creative talent of the people
i hope that picture changes soon Quoting: Anonymous Coward
Not with socialized medicine coming.
My kids doctor told me last week this would probably be her last year in practice now that Obama has been elected. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 501457
11/18/2008 9:21 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
it's true, the insurance and pharmaceutical companies are in control of the health system with the doctors under them. |
|
rachel
User ID: 408770
11/18/2008 9:22 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
wow to waist so much time and money on college. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 456961
11/18/2008 9:33 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
MORE HEALTH CARE REFORM!!!! LOL |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 550601
11/18/2008 9:37 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Downfall of the Medical Cartel will save many lives. Something good is in the air, I can feel it coming. |
|
anonymous coward
User ID: 546278
11/18/2008 9:49 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
I'm in the health care field and I'd also like to quit....
I definately see a collpase coming, once the insurance companies become non profits, there won't be any health care... |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 478606
11/18/2008 9:52 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
it's true, the insurance and pharmaceutical companies are in control of the health system with the doctors under them. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 501457
Agreed. As a healthcare provider, I spend a lot of my time jumping through hoops now -- authorizations; tx plans; this form, that form, etc. etc. In my field, the reimbursement rates for services have gone done almost 50% over the past 20 yrs; while expenses and time consuming non-direct service activities dictated by insurance companies go up. "Mangled Care" has hurt the consumers, the providers and lined the pockets of the insurance companies. It's turned into a "production line" service industry, quality of service is down. In fighting with insurance companies to authorize needed services, in one instance, I've had an insurance case manager tell me they wouldn't authorize the service because "you'll provide it anyway." (She was right. I did.) Premiums go up, out of pocket deductibles go up, copays go up, reimbursement rates go down, covered services get curtailed. If I could figure out a way to get out of the business at this stage, I'd bail -- as would a lot of my colleagues. That what happens when you let profit motivated corporations in the service industries take over. Have you noted that you don't hear about pharma and healthcare insurance companies going belly up. |
|
Sinanju
User ID: 550937
11/18/2008 9:52 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Heh! The Docs I know say they want to move to some nice quiet island nation where they can practice medicine without the Obama shoving his hand in their pocket!
Go OBAMA! |
|
MeAgain
User ID: 477567
11/18/2008 9:53 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Doctors have enough BS to muddle through with the insurance companies. When Obama starts with socialized medicine, half of the doctors WILL quit. You idiots wanted change, but forgot to ask what kind of change. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 553692
11/18/2008 10:02 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
"Of the 12,000 respondents, 49 percent said they'd consider leaving medicine. Many said they are overwhelmed with their practices, not because they have too many patients, but because there's too much red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies."
Think about it! The docs deal with blood and pus all day, listen to hypochondriacs and then with the g'ment red tape.
I'd quit too, or go fishing. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 553692
11/18/2008 10:03 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Downfall of the Medical Cartel will save many lives. Something good is in the air, I can feel it coming. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 550601
Agreed, but there will be much nasty smoke before it clears and we breathe the "good in the air". |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 476073
11/18/2008 10:05 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Boohoo. Doctors are overrated. Half of the time they don't know what the hell they're talking about, and you can self-educate yourself on the issue much more efficiently. |
|
NikkiLaVey
User ID: 551741
11/18/2008 10:08 AM
 | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Most doctors are in it for the money anyway.
If we don't help each other who will
Dream the Good Dream,
Nikki |
|
Apocalypse Troll  
Forum Moderator
User ID: 553114
11/18/2008 10:08 AM
 | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
My neighbor is quitting his practice of 15 years, and he loves Obama.
He just knows that the Canadization of American Medicine is something he does not want to be forced to participate in, so he is quitting.
Go Obama! |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 24308
11/18/2008 10:19 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
The 'doctors' were fine riding the gravy train while medical schools kept MOST applicants from entering the profession and thus their 'take home' was ENORMOUS. Now they're crying because if ALL CITIZENS actually get a modicum of healthcare via Obama, their patient load will be unmanageable. Fuck them. Go to an alternative health practioner or educate yourself about your own body. Eat right, exercise, poop everyday, drink lots of water and pretty much you're gonna be ok. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 476073
11/18/2008 10:34 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Doctors have enough BS to muddle through with the insurance companies. When Obama starts with socialized medicine, half of the doctors WILL quit. You idiots wanted change, but forgot to ask what kind of change. Quoting: MeAgain 477567
 |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 478606
11/18/2008 10:41 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
The 'doctors' were fine riding the gravy train while medical schools kept MOST applicants from entering the profession and thus their 'take home' was ENORMOUS. Now they're crying because if ALL CITIZENS actually get a modicum of healthcare via Obama, their patient load will be unmanageable. Fuck them. Go to an alternative health practioner or educate yourself about your own body. Eat right, exercise, poop everyday, drink lots of water and pretty much you're gonna be ok. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 24308
So, if you fall off a ladder and break your back, just "rest up" and you'll be okay ? Get rearended in a car accident, just bend and stretch and do yoga, you'll be fine ? Get burned in a fire, just soak in a tub ? Baby born with a congenital defect- say a hole in the heart -- go to an alternative healer for heart herbs and supplements ? Just saying..... |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 476073
11/18/2008 10:44 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
The 'doctors' were fine riding the gravy train while medical schools kept MOST applicants from entering the profession and thus their 'take home' was ENORMOUS. Now they're crying because if ALL CITIZENS actually get a modicum of healthcare via Obama, their patient load will be unmanageable. Fuck them. Go to an alternative health practioner or educate yourself about your own body. Eat right, exercise, poop everyday, drink lots of water and pretty much you're gonna be ok.
So, if you fall off a ladder and break your back, just "rest up" and you'll be okay ? Get rearended in a car accident, just bend and stretch and do yoga, you'll be fine ? Get burned in a fire, just soak in a tub ? Baby born with a congenital defect- say a hole in the heart -- go to an alternative healer for heart herbs and supplements ? Just saying..... Quoting: Anonymous Coward 478606
Come on. Quit the fear mongering and be realistic. How often do these events occur? |
|
The Analog Guy
My shit is together
User ID: 74180
11/18/2008 10:47 AM
 | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
I'm in the OR right now and have been a doc for 24 years and I want out.
[link to www.cafepress.com]
Fortune lost...nothing lost Courage lost...much lost. Honor lost...ALL LOST. |
|
dude in florida
User ID: 522554
11/18/2008 10:51 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
The 'doctors' were fine riding the gravy train while medical schools kept MOST applicants from entering the profession and thus their 'take home' was ENORMOUS. Now they're crying because if ALL CITIZENS actually get a modicum of healthcare via Obama, their patient load will be unmanageable. Fuck them. Go to an alternative health practioner or educate yourself about your own body. Eat right, exercise, poop everyday, drink lots of water and pretty much you're gonna be ok.
So, if you fall off a ladder and break your back, just "rest up" and you'll be okay ? Get rearended in a car accident, just bend and stretch and do yoga, you'll be fine ? Get burned in a fire, just soak in a tub ? Baby born with a congenital defect- say a hole in the heart -- go to an alternative healer for heart herbs and supplements ? Just saying.....
Come on. Quit the fear mongering and be realistic. How often do these events occur? Quoting: Anonymous Coward 476073
he's an idiot. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 66102
11/18/2008 10:51 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
One of President-elect Barack Obama's health care promises is to provide a primary care physician for every American. But some health experts, including Pocinki, are skeptical.
"People who have insurance can't find a doctor, so suddenly we are going to give insurance to a whole bunch of people who haven't had it, without increasing the number of physicians?" he says. "It's going to be a problem." Quoting: The_Venerable 412220
Yup ... uhuh ... same President-elect who is promising all those new jobs. Uhuh ... got real HOPE for that CHANGE!!! |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 540299
11/18/2008 10:53 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
With all the things I am leraning about the medical profession the poisoned medicines the tainted vaccines, it doesn't surprise me that doctors no longer want to be hit men for the new world order. Who wants to heal the scum and kill the innocent.For the time being, those who want to heal should become herbalists. |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 66102
11/18/2008 10:53 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
Most doctors are in it for the money anyway. Quoting: NikkiLaVey
Yep ... until YOU need ONE! |
|
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 149120
11/18/2008 10:59 AM | | Re: WTF?! Half of U.S. Doctors Want to Quit, Work in Another Profession | Quote |
They aren't going to quit. They've put too much investment into that one particular career. Plus, there's red tape / administrivia / paper work to deal with every where.
Maybe they should just lobby for a single-payer health insurance plan - ? |
|
| Page 1, 2 |
|
