Some Random Questions about PM&R

[Feed Me]

Hey guys,
I will be starting school in the fall and have a couple questions about your specialty. From everything I have seen, PM&R seems to fit my personality perfectly, so I just want to keep learning more about it.

1. Since it is toward the lower end of the spectrum in reimbursements, with reimbursement cuts coming to all specialties, do you guys predict large cuts or minimal ones (compared to some of the higher paid ones)? I feel like if all specialties are going to be a bit more standardized with respect to FM, cuts won’t be as much of a problem in PM&R. Is this not the correct way of thinking?
2. Does anyone know how the job market is in the Midwest right now?
3. Do you guys feel like PM&R will be secure and stay relevant as the population gets older and older?
4. Are there new techniques being researched to improve the quality of care provided by physiatrists?

BTW, I know no one can predict the future and things are subject to change. I’m just trying to get some insight from those immersed in the field at this time. Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[PMR 4 MSK]

Good questions, but hard to answer without a crystal ball.

Doctors are going to making less in the coming years. How much less is anyone's guess, but very few people believe doctors will make more.

If our president and CMS have their way, E&M codes will pay more and procedures less. How much that affects an individual Physiatrist depends on how much procedural medicine s/he does.

As the population ages, and to a greater degree, as the rest of medicine comes to understand and value what we do, there will be more demand for Physiatric services.

Frontier medicine in PM&R is things like neuroimplants for paralysis, stem cell injections, bionics and similar.

 

[Dharma]

bump. i'm a new student myself and interested in hearing more.

 

[RUOkie]

Kids (I can't believe I just said that),
nobody can tell the future. When I was entering Med School, one of my mentors (my long time internist since I had been 14)told me I was nuts to be a doctor. He said that the golden age of medicine was over, and insurance companies were ruining it for him.

That was 25 yrs ago. I now see where he was coming from back then. Despite that I love being a physician and particularly a physiatrist.

Right now the job market in the Central states (OK, KS, NE, AR, MO etc. I don't know what the Midwest means) is pretty good. There are jobs to be had in most cities as well as in larger rural areas. But that may change in the next 10 yrs.

I also believe that PM&R is uniquely positioned to change with the times regarding models of care and reimbursement. We have a nice mix of E&M coding and procedures. Even docs who do primarily "Rehab" do some procedures (BoTox, motor point blocks, joint injections).

 

[Doctodd]

A fellow pain doc getting his MBA at University of Miami spoke about a meeting with Dean Donna Shalala, who said the USGovt wants to regulate everything. Long term goals were for mid levels to oversee most care and for MD's to expect to make less than 6 figures. Hopefully she is wrong but apparently she has the Govt's ear.

 

[donkeykong1]

A fellow pain doc getting his MBA at University of Miami spoke about a meeting with Dean Donna Shalala, who said the USGovt wants to regulate everything. Long term goals were for mid levels to oversee most care and for MD's to expect to make less than 6 figures. Hopefully she is wrong but apparently she has the Govt's ear.

Fmr Sec. Shalala says and "accepts" a lot of things (hint countrywide loan scandal)