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- Aug 18, 2008
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I am lucky enough to have two uncles that are physicians: one a radiologist practicing for 17 years and the other an anesthesiologist. During a dinner, the radiologist was complaining about the Deficits Reductions Act(DRA) that cut radiology Medicaid/Medicare reimbursements by 25-50% across the board for CT/MRI/etc. This was the first time I had heard about this. Lots of articles out there:
http://www.rsna.org/Publications/rsnanews/January-2008/Physicians_feature.cfm
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/3508/
The advice he had given me was throw away any preconceptions about the field I was going into because by the time I graduated, many things I learned from residents and attendings now will most likely change by the time I graduate. (ie do the proverbial "do what you love" and not because it pays well and has a good lifestyle). He warned me about the misperceived notion that radiology is a high paying lifestyle field. Although this may have been true years ago, it is not so anymore. The Democrats are on a 007 mission to seriously target imaging costs. The reimbursement schedule is currently on a 10% annual deduction rate. My uncle likes to give me the bottomline info with no bull****. Because radiology is so under control of the government in terms of reimbursements, there isn't much radiologists can do(except the lobbying) besides bite the bullet when Congress decides to enforce pay cuts. In addition, the government for one reason or another is targeting radiology in particular. There are alot of lobbyists out there trying to stop the bleeding but the damage has been done. Once the reimbursements are reduced, they will most likely never come back up; the goal is to stop the progression and salvage what we can.(my uncle has never seen reimbursements increase once they decrease....unless we hit the jackpot with a new imaging tech ie a new "MRI").Many of the smaller practices are closing down due to reimbursement cuts and the inability to buy new equipment. The larger companies will eat up what was left by these closings but in the end it doesnt solve the problem. It is a big cycle. I just felt it was important to see what is really going on out there, because many med students have the idea that there is nothing like radiology and the lifestyle is great. Remember if it is too good to be true, it is. More importantly, although we think we are big shots w/ high board scores and MD's, remember anyone in Congress w/out an MD has more clout and power in terms of controlling our lifestyle.
http://www.rsna.org/Publications/rsnanews/January-2008/Physicians_feature.cfm
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/3508/
The advice he had given me was throw away any preconceptions about the field I was going into because by the time I graduated, many things I learned from residents and attendings now will most likely change by the time I graduate. (ie do the proverbial "do what you love" and not because it pays well and has a good lifestyle). He warned me about the misperceived notion that radiology is a high paying lifestyle field. Although this may have been true years ago, it is not so anymore. The Democrats are on a 007 mission to seriously target imaging costs. The reimbursement schedule is currently on a 10% annual deduction rate. My uncle likes to give me the bottomline info with no bull****. Because radiology is so under control of the government in terms of reimbursements, there isn't much radiologists can do(except the lobbying) besides bite the bullet when Congress decides to enforce pay cuts. In addition, the government for one reason or another is targeting radiology in particular. There are alot of lobbyists out there trying to stop the bleeding but the damage has been done. Once the reimbursements are reduced, they will most likely never come back up; the goal is to stop the progression and salvage what we can.(my uncle has never seen reimbursements increase once they decrease....unless we hit the jackpot with a new imaging tech ie a new "MRI").Many of the smaller practices are closing down due to reimbursement cuts and the inability to buy new equipment. The larger companies will eat up what was left by these closings but in the end it doesnt solve the problem. It is a big cycle. I just felt it was important to see what is really going on out there, because many med students have the idea that there is nothing like radiology and the lifestyle is great. Remember if it is too good to be true, it is. More importantly, although we think we are big shots w/ high board scores and MD's, remember anyone in Congress w/out an MD has more clout and power in terms of controlling our lifestyle.
More hope for me that I'll make it in!
