Reply to S/o What the f do you all want from doctors?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's wild to me that people still think doctors are making the business decisions. Do you think we have any say over how many patients we see/hr, how much time we get to spend with them, how much charting is required, or the cost of care? The only MDs calling these shots are self-employed practitioners are virtually none of them are primary care.

Private Equity has gutted medicine (and isn't done, it'll get worse) while health insurance companies continue to make basic care almost unaffordable. As an ER doc, I see this in real time every day as I manage people's diabetes, hypertension, obesity-related complaints, insomnia, dementia, and any other number of chronic complaints. For some numbers, go on over to the "young retirees" thread to peek at what people are paying for crappy outpt medical care (when they can find it).

If you think we aren't as frustrated as our patients, consider the need to retain the "doctors are evil" narrative. It's as useless as laying into your Delta pilot for cancelling your flight, when we all know airlines routinely overbook and have been bailed out by the feds a bunch of times.

I 100% consider my field of choice a public service field, and sometimes have really nice patients. Sometimes I'm assaulted at work (physically. I'm verbally assaulted almost daily but that's the ER). But we have No. Control. Your non-concierge PMD is in the same boat as me.

We simultaneously expect gold-plated health care in this country, don't want to pay for it, won't agree on a single-payer option to fix it, and won't control our weight, blood pressure, or blood sugar.

The public bashing us doesn't help, but honestly, we're too burned out. It just rolls off at this point.[/quote]

I'm relatively pro doctor but EM in particilar sucks. I get the burnout due midlevels, admins, dealing with hospitalists, frequent flyers, etc. Unfortunately, EPs take theor anger out on patients. Go to any internet EM hangout; all they do is rage about how the elderly should just die instead of darkening EM's doorstep, suicidal psych patients shoud "sh*t pr get off the pot," and of course how dare parents ask for a plastics consult for a facial lac on a 6 hear old.

They all want reduced volume with the same pay.

[/quote]

Lol, "they all". Way to start. But I'll bite: What does reduced volume mean to you? If I see a new patient every 20 minutes is that too many? How about every 15 minutes? For 10 hrs? 12? Should the same time frame be allotted to a septic 85 yo, or the 45 yo guy who ate gummies today while golfing with his buddies? I know what a safe volume feels like, and how many patients I need to see to actually spend some time at the bedside having a meaninful convo with patients and families so they understand their disease, and 4-5 patients an hour isn't it. So you're right that we want reduced volume. Current volumes are unsafe and everyone is unhappy. Would you have us see higher volumes? To make the Sequoia Capital a bigger profit? As for the pay, lol. We are firmly in the middle of the compensatory spectrum. No one in EM is killing it, and everyone busts their @ss on shift. We're not given a choice; at our shop you get shown the door if you can't keep up. We see 250-400 patients every 24 hrs. But yes, tell me more about your thoughts on volume and pay.

This is what I mean by the doctor hate. It's such casual dismissal. As for the online forums, please. The most unhappy are always the most vocal. In all areas. People go online to vent, and the internet is a cesspool. The online forums reflects EM to the same extent the relationship forum of DCUM reflects marriage.

But honestly, it doesn't matter if you don't respect what I do. When you need an EM doc you'll see one and be treated. And if it's me, I'll probably do a pretty good job. I like what I do. I don't like being pushed like a racehorse to fund a financial system whose goal it is to replace me with an NP (who are great colleagues. But we need MDs in level 1 and 2 trauma centers). The point you cruised by to bash EM is that there is a currently unsustainable financial model in place that hurts patients. Jacks up the cost of their care, reduces the time we have with them, and is the leading cause of bankruptcy. That's the point. You may like your doc or not, but he or she isn't what's behind why you can't get your thyroid checked. When people understand why American healthcare sucks, they can vote or lobby accordingly. People deserve to know why the system is failing them. And it's not us.[/quote]

How much do you make a year? You probably never worked another job, so you have little sense of how hard people work for so much less than you get. [/quote]

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