Of course doctors would want to retire! Twenty years ago the “bean counters” started to take over medicine. The Bureaucrats saw the money, so they came-a-running! Mean whilst… Doctors were doing what they were born to do…make sick people better and well patients stay that way! So now physicians are being squeezed from every direction, and the OUT Door is the last best option!
More Docs Plan to Retire Early
Six in 10 physicians said it is likely many of their colleagues will retire earlier than planned in the next 1 to 3 years.
By David Pittman, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today
WASHINGTON — THURSDAY, March 21, 2013 (MedPage Today) — Most physicians have a pessimistic outlook on the future of medicine, citing eroding autonomy and falling income, a survey of more than 600 doctors found.
Six in 10 physicians (62 percent) said it is likely many of their colleagues will retire earlier than planned in the next 1 to 3 years, a survey from Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found. That perception is uniform across age, gender, and specialty, it said.
Another 55 percent of surveyed doctors believe others will scale back hours because of the way medicine is changing, but the survey didn't elaborate greatly on how it was changing. Three-quarters think the best and brightest may not consider a career in medicine, although that is an increase from the 2011 survey result of 69 percent.
"Physicians recognize 'the new normal' will necessitate major changes in the profession that require them to practice in different settings as part of a larger organization that uses technologies and team-based models for consumer (patient) care," the survey's findings stated.
About two-thirds of the survey responders said they believe physicians and hospitals will become more integrated in coming years. In the last 2 years, 31 percent moved into a larger practice, results found. Nearly eight in 10 believe midlevel providers will play a larger role in directing primary care.
Four in 10 doctors reported their take-home pay decreased from 2011 to 2012, and more than half said the pay cut was 10 percent or less, according to Deloitte. Among physicians reporting a pay cut, four in 10 blame the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and 48 percent of all doctors believed their income would drop again in 2012 as a result of the health reform law.
Other findings:
· 26 percent believe Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula will be repealed in the next 1 to 3 years
· One in 10 believe medical liability reform will pass Congress in the next 1 to 3 years
· A quarter of physicians would place new or additional limits on accepting Medicare patients if there were payment changes
· 55 percent of physicians believe the hospital-doctor relationship will suffer as admitting privileges are put at risk to comply with hospital standards of meaningful use
· 31 percent gave the U.S. healthcare system a favorable grade of "A or B" compared with 35 percent in 2011
Despite those pessimistic views, seven of 10 said they were satisfied about practicing medicine, although that number was lower for primary care providers and higher for younger age groups, the survey found. Dissatisfaction was attributed toward less time with patients, long hours, and dealing with Medicare, Medicaid, and government regulations.
Speaking of the ACA, fewer physicians (38 percent in 2012) believe the ACA is a step in the wrong direction compared with 44 percent in 2011. The number who think the law is a good place to start remained the same.
Two-thirds of physicians in the Deloitte survey say they use an electronic health record (EHR) that meets meaningful use stage 1 requirements, but that number has been lower in other surveys. Three in 5 respondents were satisfied with their EHR.
Deloitte mailed the survey to more than 20,000 physicians selected from the American Medical Association's master file. Just 613 returned completed surveys, giving a margin of error of 3.9 percent at the 0.95 confidence level.
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