ABA Board of Directors Meeting

[Jeff05]

the main issue of the meeting was economics.
it is widely accepted that times are going to get much tougher.
although there is no consensus, most agree that salaries will decrease by at least 30%. whether this will occur quickly or over time, is not clear.

what is clear the current economy coupled with proposed healthcare spending cuts is putting this cycle of prosperity in anesthesiology to an end. oh well, maybe we'll hit another up in 10-15 yrs...

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[2win]

the main issue of the meeting was economics.
it is widely accepted that times are going to get much tougher.
although there is no consensus, most agree that salaries will decrease by at least 30%. whether this will occur quickly or over time, is not clear.

what is clear the current economy coupled with proposed healthcare spending cuts is putting this cycle of prosperity in anesthesiology to an end. oh well, maybe we'll hit another up in 10-15 yrs...

The good news is that if there will be a decreased in revenue - the pay per hour will stay the same. What means that we'll have more time for our families and eventually we'll be able to explore other financial options (having your own biz and so on). so let's see if the hourly income will change or not.
any thoughts?

 

[RxBoy]

the main issue of the meeting was economics.
it is widely accepted that times are going to get much tougher.
although there is no consensus, most agree that salaries will decrease by at least 30%. whether this will occur quickly or over time, is not clear.

what is clear the current economy coupled with proposed healthcare spending cuts is putting this cycle of prosperity in anesthesiology to an end. oh well, maybe we'll hit another up in 10-15 yrs...

I knew there would be a paradigm shift from the US economic dominance, just never expected it to be so sudden. Ohh well at least we will be able to buy million dollar houses for 100k.

Are any of the specialists immune or does the consensus state that cuts will occur across the board?
Once word gets around, expect anesthesia residency applications to plummet. Of the ROAD specialties, anesthesia is the only one that requires long and hard hours. The other specialties will probably still be competitive simply because of hours. We may be the peak match year of the "procedural" bubble. If the apps do plummet, it will cause another shortage down the road, which result in another supply/demand bubble.

 

[Etomidate]

While I respect the opinions of the ABA, to play devil's advocate, the tone at our last state society meeting that I attended was a little different.

There have been no specific talks about decreasing physician reimbursement. In fact, Obama supports fixing the flawed SGR formula that tries to cut reimbursements every year.

Secondly, the demand for anesthesiologists will only go up as the population gets older.

I agree that the economy may have some effect because some people will choose to defer elective procedures. However, this is very geographically dependent. Here we have actually seen an increase in caseload.

Also, the economic downturn will not be forever. As the economy improves, caseloads will once again increase.

In summary, there is no "specific" evidence to suggest that anesthesiology reiumbursement is going to decline. I'm not saying that it's impossible - I'm just not seeing it right now.


Finally, we don't even know if healthcare reform is going to happen. There are HUGE obstacles in the way... including insurance companies and big pharma. The Democrats don't hold a 60-40 majority in the Senate, which would be necessary to pass legislation. And there are some Democrats not on board with healthcare reform.

 

[CrazyJake]

I've thought a lot lately about everything and the Obama push for healthcare reform and it's going to be super tough to make massive changes like he says, although he doesn't say how he's going to do it.

Physicians are the last thing he should be worried about, b/c I totally agree Insurance companies and Big Pharma are not about to lose control of healthcare..add in hospital control and I'll be surprised if anything really ever changes...just too much, too hard, too broken of a system. He's going to try, for sure, but just don't see it happening by Sept like he proposes, if ever.

If there is a 30% cut, sure that will stink, but I'd much rather still be doing Anesthesia than IM, FM, or Peds. I walked around today from 8am to 7pm 'rounding' and would have given anything to be in the OR's versus writing progress notes and H&P's. Imagine doing FM for 30% less...

 

[Pilot Doc]

There have been no specific talks about decreasing physician reimbursement. In fact, Obama supports fixing the flawed SGR formula that tries to cut reimbursements every year.

Secondly, the demand for anesthesiologists will only go up as the population gets older.

SGR doesn't matter. What matters is the fee-for-service facility reimbursement model that makes OR's the economic engine of every hospital. That's why hospitals run so many OR's and are willing to subsidize anesthesia groups.

As long as that model holds, we'll do OK. If it changes in any sort of major healthcare reform, it's gonna be a bloodbath. Fortunately, we're just getting crumbs off that gravy train and it's going to be very hard for Obama to change it.

 

[maceo]

i cant see doing this job for anything less than what im making now.