Posted on 03/22/2013 10:25:39 AM PDT by grundle
WASHINGTON — THURSDAY, March 21, 2013 (MedPage Today) — Most physicians have a pessimistic outlook on the future of medicine, citing eroding autonomy and falling income, a survey of more than 600 doctors found.
Six in 10 physicians (62 percent) said it is likely many of their colleagues will retire earlier than planned in the next 1 to 3 years, a survey from Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found. That perception is uniform across age, gender, and specialty, it said.
Another 55 percent of surveyed doctors believe others will scale back hours because of the way medicine is changing, but the survey didn't elaborate greatly on how it was changing. Three-quarters think the best and brightest may not consider a career in medicine, although that is an increase from the 2011 survey result of 69 percent.
"Physicians recognize 'the new normal' will necessitate major changes in the profession that require them to practice in different settings as part of a larger organization that uses technologies and team-based models for consumer (patient) care," the survey's findings stated.
About two-thirds of the survey responders said they believe physicians and hospitals will become more integrated in coming years. In the last 2 years, 31 percent moved into a larger practice, results found. Nearly eight in 10 believe midlevel providers will play a larger role in directing primary care.
Four in 10 doctors reported their take-home pay decreased from 2011 to 2012, and more than half said the pay cut was 10 percent or less, according to Deloitte. Among physicians reporting a pay cut, four in 10 blame the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and 48 percent of all doctors believed their income would drop again in 2012 as a result of the health reform law.
Other findings:
26 percent believe Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula will be repealed in the next 1 to 3 years One in 10 believe medical liability reform will pass Congress in the next 1 to 3 years A quarter of physicians would place new or additional limits on accepting Medicare patients if there were payment changes 55 percent of physicians believe the hospital-doctor relationship will suffer as admitting privileges are put at risk to comply with hospital standards of meaningful use 31 percent gave the U.S. healthcare system a favorable grade of "A or B" compared with 35 percent in 2011
Despite those pessimistic views, seven of 10 said they were satisfied about practicing medicine, although that number was lower for primary care providers and higher for younger age groups, the survey found. Dissatisfaction was attributed toward less time with patients, long hours, and dealing with Medicare, Medicaid, and government regulations.
Speaking of the ACA, fewer physicians (38 percent in 2012) believe the ACA is a step in the wrong direction compared with 44 percent in 2011. The number who think the law is a good place to start remained the same.
Two-thirds of physicians in the Deloitte survey say they use an electronic health record (EHR) that meets meaningful use stage 1 requirements, but that number has been lower in other surveys. Three in 5 respondents were satisfied with their EHR.
Deloitte mailed the survey to more than 20,000 physicians selected from the American Medical Association's master file. Just 613 returned completed surveys, giving a margin of error of 3.9 percent at the 0.95 confidence level.
Source: Survey: More Docs Plan to Retire Early
There won’t even be enough foreign born/educated doctors to fill the gap. What you will end up with has already begun - clinics staffed by Physician’s Assistants who open up their computer, enter your name, all the symptom information you provide and out pops treatment guidelines and a list of meds you are allowed to have.
The information you provided is then downloaded into a massive data base of information in Washington which bean counters use to establish allowable levels of care based on your sex, age, race and diagnosis.
In all the debate over Obamacare (which I loathe), nobody seems to point out that doctors don’t exactly have clean hands. They are partially responsible for bringing this monstrosity on all of us.
Why? Widespread acceptance of insurance. They could charge more if someone other than the patient was paying. Well, they charged more.
So now we’re at the point where my friend, who just spent three weeks in Cedars-Sinai Hospital here in Los Angeles for a burst appendix, has a bill for $400,000.
Isn’t anyone else just a little mad at that? At the doctors? At the hospitals? At our current system?
The medical insurance system was, as the lefties love to say, simply not sustainable. So now they get government intervention. What on earth did the AMA expect? What else did any of us expect?
“Two-thirds of physicians in the Deloitte survey say they use an electronic health record (EHR) that meets meaningful use stage 1 requirements, but that number has been lower in other surveys. Three in 5 respondents were satisfied with their EHR. “
What a laugh, this “scientific” poll is a load of cr@p!This survey says 2/3’s of respondents were satisfied with their EHR but The New England Journal of Medicine Feb 2013 says 88% of ALL docs have not attained Meaningful Use Stage 1 requirements, the earliest and EASIEST level to be attained.
And other estimates say that the Meaningful Use Stage 2 and 3 MAY NEVER BE ATTAINED BY 75% of that same group of Stage 1 attainers if the requirements for those stages remain as currently presented.
It would be racist to replace them with qualified doctors anyway.
The health care system is now a make-work program for Eric Holder's people, just like the public "education" system and the United States Postal System before it.
Reparations!
I heard on the news yesterday that one congressman (Ted Cruz maybe) was putting an amendment into the budget to include 0bama, Bite-me, congress and all the WH staff to be covered under 0bamacare. Either Rush of Hannity mentioned it yesterday.
The union beaurocrat social workers that simply determine eligibility can make more in wages and benefits than Doctors. And they didn’t have to get all the education and take risk along with hard work for a practice. But when something needs to be cut, the public employee unions keep theirs and get the Doc and patients cut.
That’s what UK did and I believe it was there that they found some purposeful malpractice.
Obamacare did so take doctors into account. Remember how the president said it’d stop them hacking off feet for a quick buck? Doctors, like all other independent, potentially self-supporting professionals are the enemy. They’re only whining because they won’t be able to bulk you as easily./s
Since last Fall 4 of my doctors have retired.
muzzies are exempt too so it wouldn’t make any difference.
How convenient.
Why would any American physican choose to become incompetent and poor (turd world) for crazy politicans?
Older American doctors are geared towards improving and saving human life; not killing and neglecting in liberalism’s zero sum “collective.” Most have watched what has happened in the West’s socialized medicine places and thanked their lucky stars they are Americans even though the HMO scheme was a pain.
I know five who have already retired earlier than they would have. I know more who are waiting to see. It is going to be bad. There is a shortage of docs. bringing up the rear to replace this generation of doctors. I can’t imagine any of our really good doctors allowing a hospital to murder death panel targeted patients via no food and water while they moan in their beds. And tolerating the Union rush to the bottom like happened in education? Holy moley.
I understand that hospital patients get charged 5 times cost to cover the hospitals losses for their required treatment of nonpaying patients; similar to the banks being required to loan to sub-sub-prime applicants; similar to colleges and employers being required to accept unqualified applicants, etc. Blaming doctors, hospitals, bankers, colleges, employers, etc, for problems caused by their obeying socialist laws is leftist logic; also reference communist double speak, critical theory, and useful idiots.
Great point by you in post 28.
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