Physicians should take back control in health care

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drusso

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Physicians ceded control of health care. It's time to take it back.

"While we weren’t looking, administrators decided that we work for them. They don’t seem to get it, and to our detriment, we have not bonded and collectively reminded them that they work for us. They don’t create. They don’t build. They do not provide the care that actually brings the revenue. They do not heal. Yet, they own us. If we raise our voices, we are threatened with replacement. We are dispensable. There are people waiting in the wings to take our place."

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Physicians ceded control of health care. It's time to take it back.

"While we weren’t looking, administrators decided that we work for them. They don’t seem to get it, and to our detriment, we have not bonded and collectively reminded them that they work for us. They don’t create. They don’t build. They do not provide the care that actually brings the revenue. They do not heal. Yet, they own us. If we raise our voices, we are threatened with replacement. We are dispensable. There are people waiting in the wings to take our place."

100%agree. Unfortunately the country does not...and for the first time ever, a nurse is the US Surgeon General... that's not going to help our cause.
 
US surgeon general is...a nurse!

This is the laughingstock of the year.
 
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The (acting) surgeon general is a nurse but her boss, Tom Price, is the first MD to lead the DHHS in more than 20 years. The nurse will be replaced soon...
 
The (acting) surgeon general is a nurse but her boss, Tom Price, is the first MD to lead the DHHS in more than 20 years. The nurse will be replaced soon...

And you know this how?
 
ah, kevin.... you sure do like to play to your base.

i suspect the appointment of acting surgeon general (minority woman) was a concession to the left. either that or they are just putting in a puppet for a while. my guess is that she will soon be replaced by a doc with ties to big pharma and big business somehow. trump is a bit slow on getting people appointed, so it may be a while....
 
100%agree. Unfortunately the country does not...and for the first time ever, a nurse is the US Surgeon General... that's not going to help our cause.
No matter what patients tell us to our faces they really like the fact that we have lost our alleged God-like status and autonomy. Now we work for them and they can control us like their auto mechanic and plumber. They don't understand that what has resulted from our capture by insurance companies, hospitals, etc is that the quality of american medicine is in the toilet and on its way down the pipes.
 
ah, kevin.... you sure do like to play to your base.

i suspect the appointment of acting surgeon general (minority woman) was a concession to the left. either that or they are just putting in a puppet for a while. my guess is that she will soon be replaced by a doc with ties to big pharma and big business somehow. trump is a bit slow on getting people appointed, so it may be a while....
She was the deputy SG and is simply filling the role of her dismissed boss. I don't think it's necessarily anything sinister or political.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, Obama's Surgeon General who founded "Doctors for Obama" prior to getting appointed, tried to bring Climate Change and Gun Control under the guise of healthcare. IMO, this is exactly the LAST thing we need. We want to expose the catastrophe of the population health movement, not institutionalize it. Better to have no SG than one who espouses the virtues of the hive over individualized, personal healthcare.
 
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No matter what patients tell us to our faces they really like the fact that we have lost our alleged God-like status and autonomy. Now we work for them and they can control us like their auto mechanic and plumber. They don't understand that what has resulted from our capture by insurance companies, hospitals, etc is that the quality of american medicine is in the toilet and on its way down the pipes.

Actually we are even worse than mechanics and plumbers..plumbers can charge $200/hr and that's what u have to pay them once hey are done. Mechanics charge $2000 for a repair, and u have to pay them that.

We charge $xxx for a procedure and may barely get half of that.
 
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She was the deputy SG and is simply filling the role of her dismissed boss. I don't think it's necessarily anything sinister or political.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, Obama's Surgeon General who founded "Doctors for Obama" prior to getting appointed, tried to bring Climate Change and Gun Control under the guise of healthcare. IMO, this is exactly the LAST thing we need. We want to expose the catastrophe of the population health movement, not institutionalize it. Better to have no SG than one who espouses the virtues of the hive over individualized, personal healthcare.

shockingly, i couldnt disagree more. you can have both a public health advocate and someone who respects the doctor-patient relationship. we are not talking about Press Ganey or HCAP scores, we are talking about not allowing billy-bob, who just got out of jail, is on cocaine, and has a diagnosed psych disorder from buying an AR-15 at a gun show.


“Tired of politicians playing politics w/guns, putting lives at risk b/c they’re scared of [National Rifle Association]. Guns are a health care issue.”

“Here’s what I meant when I wrote that tweet,” Murthy began. “Violence of all kinds is a public health issue. When you have large numbers of people dying from preventable causes, that’s a health care issue. That’s a public health issue.”

“I want to find a way that we can reduce violence in America, and I think you would be hard-pressed to find parents or families of victims, or health care practitioners who would disagree.”


Murthy, like most of Obama's appointees is a pretty impressive guy. educated, well-spoked, and most importantly, an expert in his specific subject material. what happens when you dont have qualified people in these positions is the absolute sh$t-show that you are now seeing in washington (the 1 page tax plan, the border wall fiasco, state dept run by a businessman, the lack of any sort of legislative acumen). here's one of many examples:

Trump Appoints Ex-Lawmaker Don Benton to Head Selective Service
 
Actually we are even worse than mechanics and plumbers..plumbers can charge $200/hr and that's what u have to pay them once hey are done. Mechanics charge $2000 for a repair, and u have to pay them that.

We charge $xxx for a procedure and may barely get half of that.

i know. totally sucks to make 400k/year.
 
Which is far far above what the majority of physicians make.

majority of pain docs? majority of docs on this board?

whatever it is, it is more than a plumber. my point is that we shouldnt pine for the almighty plumbing gig.

im not saying that we earn too much. im just saying we shouldnt be bitching about how much we get paid
 
majority of pain docs? majority of docs on this board?

whatever it is, it is more than a plumber. my point is that we shouldnt pine for the almighty plumbing gig.

im not saying that we earn too much. im just saying we shouldnt be bitching about how much we get paid
As a family doctor, I disagree
 
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you have a much better reason to complain than most of us.
And of the higher paying specialties, I'd say y'all have decent reason to complain as well.

I can promise that your day is more trying than 99% of orthopedic surgeons just with your patient population, and I would suspect the same is true with neurosurgery and anesthesia (the 3 I think of when some talks about making lots of money in medicine, though admittedly anesthesia is less than it once was).

Plus, its all relative. My residency was short (I was making attending FM money at 29) and, as far as residencies go, not terrifically unpleasant. I work basically bankers' hours, no real call to speak of, cheap malpractice, and I can literally walk into any location in this country and get a job. There are no weekends, no holidays, and what procedures I do are insanely low risk. To me, that's worth not making what others do. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to make more but I rarely look upon other doctors and get upset that they make more than I do.
 
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She was the deputy SG and is simply filling the role of her dismissed boss. I don't think it's necessarily anything sinister or political.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, Obama's Surgeon General who founded "Doctors for Obama" prior to getting appointed, tried to bring Climate Change and Gun Control under the guise of healthcare. IMO, this is exactly the LAST thing we need. We want to expose the catastrophe of the population health movement, not institutionalize it. Better to have no SG than one who espouses the virtues of the hive over individualized, personal healthcare.

Vivek has never practiced clinical medicine and is largely just an MBA.
 
And of the higher paying specialties, I'd say y'all have decent reason to complain as well.

I can promise that your day is more trying than 99% of orthopedic surgeons just with your patient population, and I would suspect the same is true with neurosurgery and anesthesia (the 3 I think of when some talks about making lots of money in medicine, though admittedly anesthesia is less than it once was).

Plus, its all relative. My residency was short (I was making attending FM money at 29) and, as far as residencies go, not terrifically unpleasant. I work basically bankers' hours, no real call to speak of, cheap malpractice, and I can literally walk into any location in this country and get a job. There are no weekends, no holidays, and what procedures I do are insanely low risk. To me, that's worth not making what others do. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to make more but I rarely look upon other doctors and get upset that they make more than I do.

Great point.

I worry about the "higher paying" specialties decreasing their payments considerably whereby the risk remains. Then they will be FAR from attractive.

Definitely better to be a family doc making 200K than an anesthesiologist making 250K, considering hours and risk.
 
And of the higher paying specialties, I'd say y'all have decent reason to complain as well.

I can promise that your day is more trying than 99% of orthopedic surgeons just with your patient population, and I would suspect the same is true with neurosurgery and anesthesia (the 3 I think of when some talks about making lots of money in medicine, though admittedly anesthesia is less than it once was).

Plus, its all relative. My residency was short (I was making attending FM money at 29) and, as far as residencies go, not terrifically unpleasant. I work basically bankers' hours, no real call to speak of, cheap malpractice, and I can literally walk into any location in this country and get a job. There are no weekends, no holidays, and what procedures I do are insanely low risk. To me, that's worth not making what others do. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to make more but I rarely look upon other doctors and get upset that they make more than I do.
Wait you're a family doc? I thought you did pain. Why are you on this forum all the time then
 
Wait you're a family doc? I thought you did pain. Why are you on this forum all the time then
Couple reasons:

First, I am very very anti chronic opioids. Y'all have the best data about it, and the best ways to go about managing patient expectations in that regard as well as data on non-opioid pain treatments.

Second, I own my practice and y'all have the most PP docs of any specialty on this board so often things coincide in that regard.

Third, I know very little about interventional pain - up until recently I just told patients "Yeah, the pain doctor has a bunch of tools at their disposal that I don't", but as I learn more I can actually answer questions better when they come up. Few procedure heavy specialists should be surprised to learn that patients often come back to us PCP types asking things like "Does this actually work?" and "How does this work" and so on.

Fourth, y'all are more political discussions going on and I enjoy those.

That all said, if y'all would prefer that us non-pain folks just lurk and not really post much I will certainly respect that.
 
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Couple reasons:

First, I am very very anti chronic opioids. Y'all have the best data about it, and the best ways to go about managing patient expectations in that regard as well as data on non-opioid pain treatments.

Second, I own my practice and y'all have the most PP docs of any specialty on this board so often things coincide in that regard.

Third, I know very little about interventional pain - up until recently I just told patients "Yeah, the pain doctor has a bunch of tools at their disposal that I don't", but as I learn more I can actually answer questions better when they come up. Few procedure heavy specialists should be surprised to learn that patients often come back to us PCP types asking things like "Does this actually work?" and "How does this work" and so on.

Fourth, y'all are more political discussions going on and I enjoy those.

That all said, if y'all would prefer that us non-pain folks just lurk and not really post much I will certainly respect that.

absolutely not. we appreciate the PCP perspective.
 
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Couple reasons:

First, I am very very anti chronic opioids. Y'all have the best data about it, and the best ways to go about managing patient expectations in that regard as well as data on non-opioid pain treatments.

Second, I own my practice and y'all have the most PP docs of any specialty on this board so often things coincide in that regard.

Third, I know very little about interventional pain - up until recently I just told patients "Yeah, the pain doctor has a bunch of tools at their disposal that I don't", but as I learn more I can actually answer questions better when they come up. Few procedure heavy specialists should be surprised to learn that patients often come back to us PCP types asking things like "Does this actually work?" and "How does this work" and so on.

Fourth, y'all are more political discussions going on and I enjoy those.

That all said, if y'all would prefer that us non-pain folks just lurk and not really post much I will certainly respect that.
No post away.... I was just curious
 
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