Posted on 04/26/2009 5:48:21 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
There are plenty of surgeons and other medical specialists in America - more than enough, perhaps. And specialized institutionalized care of high quality is available for people who are seriously ill. But primary care - the continuing personal supervision of a family's overall health, with emphasis on prevention and early treatment of illness - is sadly lacking for the urban poor, for most rural residents and for millions of middle-class people, too.
President-elect Barack Obama has promised to expand health insurance coverage for everybody. But fulfilling this promise will require enough doctors on the firing line - internists, family doctors, pediatricians, gerontologists and others - to treat the additional people covered. Primary care is a part of the total healthcare system, and the Obama administration must craft a national health manpower policy to provide resources and reverse primary care's decline.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
couldn’t we borrow a few from cubar?—you know they have such a fine health care system.
/s
I’ve been going to a free clinic a couple of times and I was told that they are not taking dental appointments until September. When I was a volunteer there I was told at one point to schedule no more dental appointments.
I sincerely prefer private practices.
With the repeal of the conscience clause there will be even fewer.
I wish there was a lawyer shortage.
We’ve got 20x the number of lawyers this country needs. The colleges and universities realize that it’s money to them to keep pumping out these suits.
If student aid went to professions that were needed, there would be no student loans for law students.
I'm sorry? WTF does that even MEAN?
Dumb down the medical schools and hand out diplomas to all takers?
Translation: Paying professionals less then they're worth by forcing them to work for state controlled wages.
Many of the physicians we have presently are ones that fled socialized medicine in their former countries. Where will they go now? What is the incentive of smart college students to go into medicine rather than a less regulated industry? If we don’t get the smart ones, you know which ones we will get.
Well, then, that ought to work *great* ... not. Fixing a price at less than the market rate for a good or service always produces a shortage.
Supply and demand, sounds like costs will go through the roof.
Be careful there. I wouldn’t be surprised if all our good doctors left out and then were replaced by third world types that are itching to get here. YUK!
A good many doctors support nationalized health care.
If it comes about, doctors will essentially become civil servants, with no particular reason why their income should be dramatically higher than any other civil servant.
Their days of wealth and privilege will be over. But they’re too dumb to see it.
Maybe he means they will get doctors from Manpower the temporary labor pool.
The irony is that the narrow specialization in medicine is the result of fears in the 1950’s of socialized medicine. It caused doctors to start to specialize, to avoid becoming government-paid GPs.
Doctor shortage? Free Philip H. Markoff, a second-year Boston University School of Medicine student!
govt will decide what profession they will study...
They already tried that in the Soviet Union. - didn’t work then, either
My MD is joining this organization of doctors.
http://www.mdvip.com/NewCorpWebSite/index.aspx
He’s going to limit his practice to 600 patients, fee will be $1500 per year for concierge service (insurance will still pay for visits)...I’m still not quite sure what the $1500 is for, LOL, but I know Obama isn’t going to like this type of practice.
What do you call the person who graduated last in his Med School class? Doctor.
No problem. We’ll import MDs from Islamic countries.
Ive been a doc for almost 25 years. While I make a good living, I certainly would like to know where to sign up for the wealth and privelege thing. I make less than my plumber.
BTW if Obama succeeds with the national health care thing, I will be retired. So will a lot of my colleagues. I wish him luck with it.
Physicians choose specialties rather than primary care because procedures are reimbursed at much higher rates by Medicare and insurance companies than office visits and medical management of disease.
Change the reimbursement model and you cure the primary physician shortage.
>fee will be $1500 per year for concierge service ...
Sorry? This means?
everything Obama is doing will not/has not worked, is not stopping him.
you ain’t seen nothing yet. Wait 7&2/3 more years..
He went on to say that if nobama's health reform takes effect he'll likely retire.
It's exactly what they are going to do.
This is what I would fear. Giving medical degrees to absolute morons.
And under his new plan with these unqualified medical professionals...never mind dying because you’re being denied healthcare, getting healthcare might kill you anyway!
• the MDVIP physical exam that includes a risk factor assessment and laboratory testing • a personal wellness plan • your own personal website • a mini CD-ROM containing your health records A smaller practice limited to no more than 600 patients affords you an enhanced level of service. You will get the time and attention you deserve. You will also enjoy same or next day appointments that start on time, unhurried office visits and 24-hour physician availability by personal telephone or pager. Your MDVIP-affiliated physician will coordinate specialist appointments and follow up on results. Through the Medical Centers of Excellence program, your practice membership extends beyond your MDVIP-affiliated physician to a national network of premier medical institutions should you need specialist opinions or treatment. With your myMDVIP personal website, you can confidentially email your doctor, order prescriptions online and more. You will have complete peace of mind knowing you are well cared for by an exceptional doctor and support personnel dedicated exclusively to your needs.
(we haven't decided whether to stay w/this physician or change, but I guarantee he'll have no problem getting his 600 patients because he's very good and practices in an upper middle class area with lots of retirees who seem to be pretty well off.) We're already paying over 300 per month for our group, so I can't really see paying an extra 100 plus per month, so we'll probably change physicians.
“Physicians choose specialties rather than primary care because procedures are reimbursed at much higher rates by Medicare and insurance companies than office visits and medical management of disease.”
I can hardly disagree more. I am being compensated at rates for surgery that are 35-48% less than what I was paid in 1982. And I need not remind you we are talking 2009 dollars.
I suggest that we enlist all those liberal medical students that voted for Obama in a new medical corp. We pay them 50k a year for 10 years and allow them the privilege of practicing in rural America. Then we’ll see how liberal they really are. Most only want us to spend the other guys money to pay them the salaries they think they deserve.
Another reason why liberalism is a mental disorder. There needs to be more PAs too but it is very hard to get accepted into the program.
Many insiders say that the professional schools limit the number of docs, as a way of controlling supply.
I do question if regular medical training is overkill for the primary care setting. I’ve found many nurse pracs. and PA’s, with lots of experience, to be as good, or sometimes better.
You are aware, I assume, that TV shows seldom have mothers drooling over the prospect of their daughters marrying plumbers?
I can assure you that doctors are among the highest-status occupations in this country, and are also among the highest-paid, on average.
That’s right. The med schools are filled with kids who couldn’t have gotten in twenty years ago. Over 90% of docs pass the Internal Medicine Boards on the first try, nearly 100% eventually pass. What the heck is the point of being Board Certified if all you have to do is stumble through training and give them a check? Huge scam.
And healthcare reform as it is being discussed will make things far worse. Some med schools are already paying top students to attend. Hope and change? Somebody save us.
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