We have a very dear friend that will be retiring from medicine in September. This is an Internist that treats primarily those 40 and above. He has learned technology to keep up with the paperless world. He is old enough to retire, but is still mentally and physically sharp. Plus, his patients love him. The reason he is retiring is the corporate world. In the late 1970's he was still making house calls. His schedule for seeing patients varied on how much time the patient needed. In our area, physicians joined together to form practices and this worked well for multiple reasons. Then physician groups had to join hospitals to remain competitive with malpractice insurance costs, accepting of patient insurance, and simple logistics for the fast moving world.
So why is he feeling the need to retire? The system requires him to see a certain number of patients within the normal day. If Fred needs to talk about his recently departed wife and his anxiety, it needs to happen in the amount of time allotted. Medicine goes beyond the blood test and rests on the physician listening to the patient. He can no longer practice medicine in a time slot of 5 minutes to remain within the standards set by the hospital and in his mind, has fought the battle, and feels he has lost.
A good man will no longer get to practice medicine and many patients are losing an amazing physician. I'm certain this is not an isolated case. As a patient we have to fit into the time slot the corporate world has said must be met in order to make a profit.
|