I think it?s going to be tight for everyone. I don?t think it will be worse for ER than it is for everyone else. Historically people will not tolerate having their access to ERs curtailed (such as with preapproval requirements in the past). If things get too much worse more ERs will close and waits will get even longer and public opinion will force money to flow. Not a lot of money but enough to stave off disaster.
I think the people that really don?t have more room to give are the primary care docs. They?re already down to 7 minutes per patient visit and I just don?t see how they can cut that anymore.
I think that the real thing we need is tort reform because if we didn?t have to do so much defensive medicine and documentation we could cut down ER length of stay and see more patients. Oh well, lawyers come first.
