Stop Pestering Me About Declining Reimbursement

[McDoctor]

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Not a day goes by where I don't receive an email from some primary care political action committee harrassing me about how I'm not doing enough to voice my concern over declining reimbursement. I don't see how this is the biggest problem facing new grads.

These committees are made up primarily of fat cat graduates from the 1980's and 1990's who finished at a time when actually starting a practice out of residency was feasible. So I see how they see this as a big problem.

However, today's primary care resident, unless he/she is independently wealthy and happened to be a credentialing specialist, is not going to be in a position to start a practice. He/she is going to get strong-armed into an unfavorable employment position anyway, and reimbursement is among the least of the factors contributiong to this. Byzantine credentialing processes, the cost of med school, the oligopoly that exists in most regions (wherein 1-2 hospitals and 1-2 multispecialty practices own all family medicine practices), the lack of business education in our training,...numerous other barriers to competition are all bigger problems for us kids trying to break in to the field.

So please, AAFP ACOFP AOA AMA etc..., until you acknowledge that even if reimbursement improves younger grads still won't being given the opportunity to compete with the establishment, stop crowding my inbox with your alarmist pleas for the reamining 40 cents on the dollar of my take-home. Besides, the glut of emails from you is crowding out my corporate (hat)e-mail reminding me that where my patients are getting care is more important than how well they are being taken care of.

So, in short, stop pestering me.

 

[Faebinder]

Not a day goes by where I don't receive an email from some primary care political action committee harrassing me about how I'm not doing enough to voice my concern over declining reimbursement. I don't see how this is the biggest problem facing new grads.

These committees are made up primarily of fat cat graduates from the 1980's and 1990's who finished at a time when actually starting a practice out of residency was feasible. So I see how they see this as a big problem.

However, today's primary care resident, unless he/she is independently wealthy and happened to be a credentialing specialist, is not going to be in a position to start a practice. He/she is going to get strong-armed into an unfavorable employment position anyway, and reimbursement is among the least of the factors contributiong to this. Byzantine credentialing processes, the cost of med school, the oligopoly that exists in most regions (wherein 1-2 hospitals and 1-2 multispecialty practices own all family medicine practices), the lack of business education in our training,...numerous other barriers to competition are all bigger problems for us kids trying to break in to the field.

So please, AAFP ACOFP AOA AMA etc..., until you acknowledge that even if reimbursement improves younger grads still won't being given the opportunity to compete with the establishment, stop crowding my inbox with your alarmist pleas for the reamining 40 cents on the dollar of my take-home. Besides, the glut of emails from you is crowding out my corporate (hat)e-mail reminding me that where my patients are getting care is more important than how well they are being taken care of.

So, in short, stop pestering me.

Sir, I tip my hat for your honesty. If loan forgiveness was an option, 30% of doctors would never finish residency.