A recent survey shows that almost one-third of practicing physicians may leave the health care field if the Senate health insurance bill is passed.
Slightly odd though, that there is no argument that health reform is needed among physicians. The survey found that only 3.6 percent of the physicians felt that the health care system should be left in its current form. Actually, doctors think it should be a slow and steady process — 62.7 percent believe that health reform should be incremental and change gradually instead of a sweeping overhaul.
The survey was conducted by The Medicus Firm, a national physician search firm, and suggests that reform will make the quality of health care in the United States worse. More than half of the physicians surveyed predicted that quality health care will deteriorate. And if the public option is included in the health reform, than 64.1 percent of the physicians polled believe the quality of medical care will decline.
Jim Stone, the Managing Partner at The Medicus Firm’s Dallas office said, “What many people may not realize is that health reform could impact physician supply in such a way that the quality of healthcare could suffer. Based on the physicians’ responses to the survey, health reform could significantly intensify the effects of the physician shortage. Depending upon which version of the health reform bill passes, the reality is that there may not be enough doctors to provide quality medical care to all of these newly insured people. ”
Adding 30 million people to physician’s rosters seems to be a cause of concern for many practicing medicine. It’s obvious there would be a big supply and demand difference. Also, more young professionals might start choosing specialized fields instead of becoming a primary care physician for this reason alone.
It will be interesting to see if health insurance reform has any short-term or long-term implications on decreasing the number of practicing physicians.