U.S. Medical System – An Inside Look (2014)
A doctor responds to our sending a copy of the Wall Street Journal article (Sat/Sun, Aug. 30, 2014, Page C1) to them with the title “Our Ailing Medical System” by Sandeep Jauhar.
“… many of the things that the article lists as ways to improve physician satisfaction are already being done, but the burn out is rampant. I think most of it has to do with expectations on how many patients to see in an hour, how fast you can turn an OR (operating room) around, how many patient e-mails you can answer each day, how many prescriptions you can push out each hour, how many x-rays can you take a day, etc. The pressure has increased dramatically since Obamacare went into effect because we have a lot more patients now, they are often much sicker because they have not seen a doctor in so long, and reimbursement is much lower, so the only way to stay afloat is to push the ‘worker bees’ (i.e., all health care workers, not just MDs) faster and harder (yes, EDs [Emergency Departments] always treated indigent patients and, for that matter, anyone who walks in the ED, but the numbers coming now are much larger). Of course, these patents deserve to be treated, but they deserve to be treated properly and competently, not in a rush rush assembly line fashion. Obamacare has increased the demands without spelling out ANY way in which the demands can be met. All I see is pressure to meet the law’s requirements (which are a moving target because Obama feels compelled to change parts of the law on his own whim). The people on the ground do not know what is coming, do not know what will change in the law tomorrow, do not know where the patients are coming from or going to, do not know if there will even be any money to pay for the care, but we are mandated to provide it nonetheless.”