49% of primary care physicians would leave medicine if they had an alternative

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/primary.care.doctors.study/

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.

Experts say if many physicians stop practicing, it could be devastating to the health care industry.

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.

yes INDEED

for services in their signed contract with the insurance company.

And I feel for the PCP, but sometimes my job sucks too. Suck it up.

and cause many of them to rethink it.

If they could only find another profession that pays enough to afford a BMW convertible.

:rofl:

... makes millions off boob jobs for vain women, because Blue Cross only wanted to pay him about as much as for a breast reduction. My son's entire face was road-kill, and this doc performed a miracle, and Blue Cross thought it was worth that little in money to fix it? I

My internist saved my life by recognizing how sick I truly was when my appendix blew, while the surgeon who didn't know me thought I didn't look that bad.

Etcetera.

Doctors are staggering under malpractice insurance. My gynecologist left obstetrics years ago because of it. Doctors study like dogs for years to get their MD, and start their working lives with at least $100,000 in student loans, usually more.

I don't begrudge them a good living.

Doctors as a group are finally coming to see that they have been had by the insurance companies, every bit as much as the rest of us. I hope that all of us can get this universal single-payer health care thing FINALLY up and running under President Obama.

Hekate

minimum wage. :sarcasm:

After all, what good is doctoring if you cannot have multiple income streams? :sarcasm:

really, they deserve it- our lives are in their hands. of course, i'd like to see teachers make as much as doctors do, as our young peoples lives are in *their* hands....

Anyone with a bachelor's degree can be a teacher. That's very different from a PhD in anything, much less medicine. When I was teaching my job was to teach a curriculum, not protect the kids' health or save their lives. Teaching is an important job and it is challenging, but teachers get weekends off, several days off for holidays and spring break, and months off for summer every year.

I graded papers and tests during the day during lunch and conference period. I created tests and homework assignments during class while the kids worked math problems. I spent about an hour a day talking to parents after school. I spent about 8.5 hours a day actually working. I only worked about 180 days out of the year when you consider all the time off. My first year I was paid $28,000 per year. That's about $155 per day. So if I put in 8.5 hours each day that's over $18 per hour. That's not really a bad wage in a person's first year of work in a career.

I think teachers should be paid more if they are good at their jobs. I've known several teachers that were horrible though. I wouldn't necessarily pay them what a good doctor makes. My 2 cents.
:)

but 18 bucks an hour really isn't much. a cashier with a little seniority at costco makes almost that. i really do think teachers deserve more than they get, but maybe not m.d. level.

She's only in her family practice two days a week now. It's almost impossible to get in to see her. I can understand why she's doing it. More money, less hassle. But our community doesn't have enough doctors as it is. To lose one of the better docs to the business of tummy tucks and boob jobs is frustrating.

"red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies". i wonder if the results were skewed in the direction of one or the other.

curious which institution was felt more to blame or if the poll even broke it down between the two.

if not- that would certainly give shelter to the insurance corporations who, after all, (sometimes) pay the bills.

It's been that way for a while, too. Scary shit.

The insurance companies now micromanage the doctors' time, down to how much time they can do to take a history or examine the patient or think about what needs to be done.

This is why the right's scare propaganda to docs about a big scary government bureaucracy telling them what to do no longer has any resonance. A big scary corporate bureaucracy already tells them what to do.

to open a "boutique practice". They will charge each patient $2,000 per year for unlimited service.

Needless to say, since we have insurance, we are dumping him!