Reuters reports that a survey
released on November 18, 2008 shows that nearly half of the primary
care
doctors in the United States feel overworked and nearly half of
them plan either to retire or to cut back
on how many patients they see
or to quit the practice of medicine altogether. This poses serious
problems for the elderly, most of whom are cared for
by primary care doctors, either family practice
doctors or internists.
In the survey 60 percent of 12,000 general practice physicians surveyed said that they wouldn't recommend medicine as a career.
The survey was conducted by the Physicians' Foundation. One doctor participating in the survey was quoted as saying: "The whole thing has spun out of control. I plan to retire early even though I still love seeing patients. The process has just become too burdensome."
As I've written earlier, there is a crisis in medical care, particularly for the elderly. Insufficient numbers of medical students are choosing to train in and/or to practice internal medicine or family practice medicine. Medical students are opting for specialties that don't involve treatment of geriatric patient. One of the primary disincentives is the lack of sufficient compensation provided to doctors by Medicare and Medicaid.
Dr. Joseph F. Friedman of Brown University Medical School wrote Chapter Two of Taking Charge: Good
Medical Care for the Elderly and How to Get It. This topic is explored
thoroughly in Chapter Two which you may read without charge online here.
You may need to be in touch with your representative in Congress. Both Congress and president-elect Barack Obama have stated that health care reform is a top priority for them. Doctor's groups are, according to the Reuter's report, lobbying for action to reduce their workload and hold the line on payments for treating Medicare, Medicaid and other patients with federal or state health insurance.
You may read the full Reuter's report in the Boston Globe at this link. A one-time registration may be required.
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