Say Goodbye to the Family Doctor

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Monday, December 22. 2014

Say Goodbye to the Family Doctor

but you will not be happy with it. Say Goodbye to the Family Doctor - Young doctors are increasingly becoming employees rather than independent practitioners.

Not only will they not know you (other than your chart data), but they will have no connection with you. We are approaching the tail end of a long era of personal and personalized medical care.

A physician can not be commoditized, but they can try. A physician is more than a technician.

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays at 15:38 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

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So are older doctors.

Can you blame them? All they have to do is what they were trained for. Practicing medicine.

No more fighting with patients and underwriters over claims. No more worrying about accounts receivable. What's not to like?

In my case it doesn't much matter. I only see the doctor about once every 5 years anyhow.

#1 feeblemind on 2014-12-22 15:53 (Reply)

Not just that the doctor won't know you.

That doctor will be a corporate employee, not an independent professional you consult with. He or she will be tasked by the employer with (primarily) keeping your health index measurements within certain limits - by whatever means necessary - keeping your medical care as low-cost as possible, and carrying out whatever other mandates he or she may be given, which probably will have little to do with your health as a particular patient. (Example: "At least 65% of office visits must include starting, stopping, or altering a medication for the patient.")

Not the same thing at all as having a doctor who's beholden to the patient and to his or her ethics.

#2 jaed on 2014-12-22 16:31 (Reply)

A doctor told me he pulled the pin when told by the bean counters, he needed to see 1.34 patients more a day. While he had no problem seeing one more, it was the 34/100s patient he had trouble scheduling.

On a personal note, a medical visit seems more like a 50k mile check up by a mechanic on the car than a personal encounter.

#3 walt moffett on 2014-12-22 18:32 (Reply)

If it seems like that, wrong doc.

Annual check up is a waste of time and money, but it's the only way to maintain the relationship. That's what it's really for. "How's your life going?"

#3.1 Bird Dog on 2014-12-22 19:01 (Reply)

There is no relationship with the doctor in the new systems, only a business relationship with the "health center".

It has its downsides, but also its ups.
It can be a lot faster to see a doctor this way. If your own is full or not working on a day (most will be part timers, and they do have vacations and get sick themselves) you can go see another as easy as seeing your own, and at the same cost.

Often there will be an integrated pharmacy, no having to drive half way across town to pick up your prescription only to have the pharmacist have trouble reading the handwriting of your doctor (yes, they are now supposed to use printed prescription forms, but many doctors won't do that).

And if they're organised on a large scale (like here, city wide, and integrated with the hospital) there's a single integrated patient database.
Makes it a lot less likely you're going to end up with bad decisions as that specialist at the hospital now has access to your medical records from other doctors in the system, and can see that the treatment he was thinking of would clash with something done last year that he wasn't previously aware of.

#3.1.1 J.T. Wenting on 2014-12-23 02:16 (Reply)

This pertains to the UK,my family had the same doctor for 35 years that was 20 years ago now i have no idea who i will see and they have no idea about me.

#4 marc on 2014-12-23 03:14 (Reply)

Single payer can only control costs by having medical caregivers working for the payer.

Cuba offers free medical care, even it that may not include ambulances or medical, and it does that my controlling salaries:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/21/cuba-hikes-salaries-for-doctors-nurses-to-as-much-as-67-month/

Cuba hikes salaries for doctors, nurses to as much as $67 a month

#5 Freddie Sykes on 2014-12-23 13:37 (Reply)

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Monday, December 22. 2014

Say Goodbye to the Family Doctor