Is it okay to talk about doctors earning less money?

[fuzzywuz]

Hey all,

Some schools have secondaries that ask you to address current issues in the medical profession. I happen to talk about cost.

In order to discuss that, I tried to incorporate cost from the patients' perspectives and the physicians' perspectives.

Without going into the patient's side of the argument, I was wondering what you guys think about my argument..

I argued that with the rising cost of maintaining a practice, physicians are forced to make budget cuts in their business and this will negatively affect the quality of care being delivered. In addition to that, the issue of higher cost in sustaining a practice will cut into the compensation that physicians received.

I don't want to make it sound like I'm in it for the money. But the reality is (and this is also what I hear from doctors), they simply no longer earn as much and it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the needs of maintaining a family and maintaining a business.


Should I avoid that discussion? Or is it a legit argument?

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[Livingapparatus]

I think you should avoid it like the plague

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I talked about the increase in power for insurance companies

 

[RSAgator]

I'd avoid it, it's a pretty risky thing to talk about. Talking about cost is one thing, but once you begin to talk about physician salaries you can say 2 things:


1) they're too high, which will anger physicians who have seen themselves begin working more for less over the last few years

2) they're too low, which makes it seem like you're in it for the money or you will possibly become very dissatisfied with the field in the future which may raise questions


I think it's just a risky thing to talk about and should be avoided, especially because physician salaries are a pretty minimal cause of healthcare costs. Now malpractice insurance, tort reform, decreased autonomy, increasing power for insurance companies, those are pretty much all things that affect physicians salaries/issues with the profession but they point to the bigger picture without coming across as 1) or 2).

 

[Livingapparatus]

I talked about the increase in power for insurance companies

I think that would be fine because you could talk about the loss of autonomy as a physician or a physician not giving the best care because the physician doesnt have final say.

Every physician seems to have a problem with how insurance is set up but the view on physician salary like dcohen said is not as unanimous.

 

[Narmerguy]

I think you should avoid it like the plague

I think you should take this advice.

 

[Law2Doc]

I think you should take this advice.

I gotta agree with this as well.

 

[fuzzywuz]

Sweet....good advice!