Angry primary care physicians are just saying "no"

Guess what? Docs are in the news today - specifically primary care physicians who are mad and apparently aren't going to take it any longer.

• Up to 50% of primary care docs intend to cut back or quit (Physicians Foundation report released today).
• 60% of 12,000 general practice physicians surveyed said they would not recommend medicine as a career.
• South Florida... is hit hard, with dozens or even hundreds of primary-care doctors giving up their practices in recent years because of slow-growing income, increased business headaches and unpredictable hours.
• Only 2% of medical students are considering going into primary care as internists.

Hear for yourself: 

So what's next for doctors? Care to share your plans?

And what's going to happen to us all when we really need care?

Update on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 11:57AM by Philippa Kennealy

Here's a helpful piece from the ACP, along with their link to their white paper.

Comments

[Akshay Kapur]

Hello Health is making a big play in this emptying market. Providing PCPs another model for delivery that's low overhead, high output and increased gatekeeping functionality to boost referrals to specialists.

Currently they're centered in NYC, but its just a matter of time before critical mass is achieved: https://www.hellohealth.com

[endoguy]

It's a sad state but not that unexpected. As the rewards decline in primary care, it becomes less attractive. This is true to a lesser degree in any type of cognitive based specialty. There just no way to keep up the passion long term when you get long hours, liability, and relatively lower pay.

The headaches of practice in a 3rd party pay system (especially if you have a lot of medicare/medicaid in your payor mix) means large volume, lots of paperwork, lots of "gotcha" denials. It can be an existence that burn out the best of MDs.

I think that models that cut-out 3rd party payors and restore the balance of valuing an MDs time and expertise (like hellohealth) will become more common as fed-up MDs decide that enough is enough.

[Philippa Kennealy]

I agree wholeheartedly with you both,. it is noteworthy that I met today with one of my physician coaching clients with a concierge-style practice whose business is truly flourishing, even in these difficult times. I attribute his rip-roaring success to good planning, excellent marketing, fine doctoring and a healthy dose of good luck!