POLL: Would you join a physician's union?

[Ruban]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Sure, we've got the AMA and various specialty lobbyists, but physicians are up against some of the most powerful lobbying groups in the country: trial lawyers, HMOs, etc. With health care reform, health care reimbursements are almost sure to fall. Meanwhile, trial lawyers will continue to rake in the dough due to lack of malpractice reform, and the CEOs of the HMOs will continue to enjoy eight-figure salaries.

So: is it time for physicians to unionize? If the government wants to slash reimbursements, control how we manage our patients, and characterize physicians as greedy, surely it is time to push back?

I'm no fan of unions in general, but at the end of the day, I feel like they've forced our hand.

 

[medicinesux]

I wouldn't just join, I'd run for president

 

[Ttan]

are physicians legally able to do more than have the AMA?

 

[TaeK]

I think we need one so bad... one with no political interest. I'd definitely join, just make sure put D.O.'s in your plan if you are considering doing this.

 

[Frugal Traveler]

This is an interesting article:

http://www.acpinternist.org/archives/1999/09/pac.htm

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The ACP did form a PAC in 2004.

The answer to "Can physicians unionize?" is "Yes, just like everyone else". However, only salaried employees of a single company can form a union. Hence, if a certain hospital has all of their physicians salaried, then those physicians can form a union. Physicians in private practice, or those who are independent contractors with credentials at hospitals, cannot unionize. If physicians in private practice try to get together and negotiate with insurers, that's price fixing and is illegal.

At least, that's the way I see it. I could be wrong.

 

[Good Solutions]

No.

I wouldn't join a physician union. Doing so would only serve to add more paperwork and less autonomy. Now there would be a union telling me how medicine should be practiced. It is not needed. Physicians aren't a day laborer with no skills. We have skills that take time to accrue and are sought after. We have a profession! All we need to do is start acting like one. Do you see lawyers living entirely off of reimbursements from insurance companies?

Take back your profession and stop taking insurance. This can be done in Peds, FP, OB, Psych, PM&R, Neuro, IM, and some of the other IM subspecialties.

I don't need a union to do my talking. My feet will talk for me.

 

[JMK2005]

Shouldn't this POLL actually have a poll to vote?

 

[Beggar MD]

I would in a heartbeat. If the government and insurers are going to use their group purchasing power to push for rock bottom prices, why shouldn't doctors get together push back?

Could doctors actually go on strike? No ER docs or trauma surgeons... that could get a bit messy....

 

[J ROD]

I think we just need more political power. More healthcare folks in Congress like lawyers...or a really powerful lobbying group.

I dont see how an union would work...too much self-employment

 

[slight365]

While I don't like unions as a whole, and my old union did some messed up stuff, they did protect us simply by being there.

I think the tradeoffs would be worth it, and perhaps would put an end to the atmosphere of career suicide if one blows the whistle on bad conditions.

 

[dragonfly99]

APD is correct. It is illegal for most physicians to unionize. There are federal laws that prevent us, as a group, from doing so, since it is considered collusion and price-fixing. This is part of the reason that insurance companies in certain markets/areas of the country are able to exert such pressure on physicians...

Docs who are hospital-employed can unionize within their hospital. This includes some hospitalist, ER docs, etc. Residents can unionize because they are employees.

 

[McGillGrad]

Striking is the only leverage and it is not morally feasible. Ergo, no.