83% of US doctors considering quitting because of Obamacare

[ParkCungHee]

Hang no fewer than one hundred known doctors, rich men, bloodsuckers.

I say let them quit. It'll be fun watching them beg to wait tables.

 

[LucyDuke]

Thanks for the post!

You're welcome! There's an interesting discussion to be had about the ACA's actual implications for individual doctors, but the thread's alarmist title deserves posts like mine.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Complaining about the sample size being too small is silly....
So, please shred the study for what it actually did wrong, instead of going the "OMG, sample size" route.

That's really more of an indictment of general data gathering techniques than it is a defense of this particular data gathering event.

 

[Dreadnought]

You're welcome! There's an interesting discussion to be had about the ACA's actual implications for individual doctors, but the thread's alarmist title deserves posts like mine.

I think you may be a bit confused.

I didn't invent the thread title out of thin air. It's the title of the article, and thus I am representing the article via the thread's title.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020. The new health care law increases demand for physicians by expanding insurance coverage. This change will exacerbate the current shortage as more Americans live past 65.

Why are Republicans against death panels again ?
But yeah aging population, (plus western obesity rate) needs to be addressed. Preventative medicine is only part of the answer.

 

[LucyDuke]

I think you may be a bit confused.

I didn't invent the thread title out of thin air. It's the title of the article, and thus I am representing the article via the thread's title.

I'm not confused. You put it up. No pass for "I'm just quoting!" when you obviously buy it.

 

[Traitorfish]

Use them as an example for the others!

Well, you've certainly grasped the idea, but I think perhaps I'm getting a bit over-obscure with my references, there.

 

[warpus]

Heh, and what jobs are they going to take up after they quit? Or are they going to go on welfare?

 

[kochman]

Heh, and what jobs are they going to take up after they quit? Or are they going to go on welfare?

They're moving to Canada to become doctors.

 

[JollyRoger]

To take care of those fleeing to Canada to avoid Obamacare?

 

[Dreadnought]

I'm not confused. You put it up. No pass for "I'm just quoting!" when you obviously buy it.

I believe that a sizeable majority, whether 83% or otherwise, oppose the new regulations set by Obamacare.

Well, you've certainly grasped the idea, but I think perhaps I'm getting a bit over-obscure with my references, there.

Oooh, neat link. I've never come across that bit of history before.

 

[JollyRoger]

I oppose some of the regulations the State Bar has proposed, but I'm not thinking of quitting over it.

 

[Traitorfish]

They're moving to Canada to become doctors.

They object to the introduction of socialised healthcare in the US, so they're moving to a place where healthcare is more socialised?

 

[Artifis]

Actually... The medical profession seems to be undergoing quite a dramatic shift, in a direction which would require less doctors, so even if doctors were to quit because of Obamacare, I don't think the effects would be as drastic as one would imagine..

 

[kochman]

Actually... The medical profession seems to be undergoing quite a dramatic shift, in a direction which would require less doctors, so even if doctors were to quit because of Obamacare, I don't think the effects would be as drastic as one would imagine..

Um... since we already have a shortage... can you elaborate how having even less doctors would be good as the US population and unhealthiness increases?
That McD's isn't going away...

 

[JollyRoger]

Um... since we already have a shortage... can you elaborate how having even less doctors would be good as the US population and unhealthiness increases?
That McD's isn't going away...

Given the current trend, McD's just may have a clinic staffed by a PA though.

 

[Artifis]

Um... since we already have a shortage... can you elaborate how having even less doctors would be good as the US population and unhealthiness increases?
That McD's isn't going away...

My pleasure.

The issue, you see (and which you nicely pointed out with the MacD example), is that many of the health problems which are afflicting the developed world such as obesity, diabetes and whathaveyou are chronic problems, the sort of issues which doctors are not the best to deal with.

Doctors should be able to focus on more critical cases such as accidents, or surgeries, or medical emergencies (think House).

But as the world gets exponentially fatter and unhealthier, the demand for medical care will surge. There is no way that medical schools can churn out doctors fast enough to fill in this gap, so we have to look at other methods.

One of them is innovation in technology and logistics. For example, the Montefiore Medical Centre in NYC has a programme which has a team of "care coordinators" look at data from health records and machines in patients' homes. If something spikes or changes dramatically in these patients' conditions, the coordinators will call the patient and, if necessary, alert a nurse.

Another method, which flows nicely from above, is to increase the number of non-doctor medical staff. American physician assistants can do about 85% the work of a GP, and their training is definitely less rigorous and/or demanding than doctor school. With more of them about, it can leave the doctor to focus on his really critical tasks.

And it would be wrong to think that patients treated by non-doctors would be worse off, because a review of studies of nurse practitioners in various countries showed that patients treated by nurses were no less health and were in fact more satisfied than those treated by doctors.

Now all of what I said was re-written from a wonderful recent article by The Economist on this very subject. It's titled "Squeezing Out the Doctor" and should be read by anybody who wants to debate this topic.

 

[Dreadnought]

My pleasure.

The issue, you see (and which you nicely pointed out with the MacD example), is that many of the health problems which are afflicting the developed world such as obesity, diabetes and whathaveyou are chronic problems, the sort of issues which doctors are not the best to deal with.

Doctors should be able to focus on more critical cases such as accidents, or surgeries, or medical emergencies (think House).

But as the world gets exponentially fatter and unhealthier, the demand for medical care will surge. There is no way that medical schools can churn out doctors fast enough to fill in this gap, so we have to look at other methods.

One of them is innovation in technology and logistics. For example, the Montefiore Medical Centre in NYC has a programme which has a team of "care coordinators" look at data from health records and machines in patients' homes. If something spikes or changes dramatically in these patients' conditions, the coordinators will call the patient and, if necessary, alert a nurse.

Another method, which flows nicely from above, is to increase the number of non-doctor medical staff. American physician assistants can do about 85% the work of a GP, and their training is definitely less rigorous and/or demanding than doctor school. With more of them about, it can leave the doctor to focus on his really critical tasks.

And it would be wrong to think that patients treated by non-doctors would be worse off, because a review of studies of nurse practitioners in various countries showed that patients treated by nurses were no less health and were in fact more satisfied than those treated by doctors.

Now all of what I said was re-written from a wonderful recent article by The Economist on this very subject. It's titled "Squeezing Out the Doctor" and should be read by anybody who wants to debate this topic.

Excellent post!

 

[kochman]

My pleasure.

The issue, you see (and which you nicely pointed out with the MacD example), is that many of the health problems which are afflicting the developed world such as obesity, diabetes and whathaveyou are chronic problems, the sort of issues which doctors are not the best to deal with.

Doctors should be able to focus on more critical cases such as accidents, or surgeries, or medical emergencies (think House).

But as the world gets exponentially fatter and unhealthier, the demand for medical care will surge. There is no way that medical schools can churn out doctors fast enough to fill in this gap, so we have to look at other methods.

One of them is innovation in technology and logistics. For example, the Montefiore Medical Centre in NYC has a programme which has a team of "care coordinators" look at data from health records and machines in patients' homes. If something spikes or changes dramatically in these patients' conditions, the coordinators will call the patient and, if necessary, alert a nurse.

Another method, which flows nicely from above, is to increase the number of non-doctor medical staff. American physician assistants can do about 85% the work of a GP, and their training is definitely less rigorous and/or demanding than doctor school. With more of them about, it can leave the doctor to focus on his really critical tasks.

And it would be wrong to think that patients treated by non-doctors would be worse off, because a review of studies of nurse practitioners in various countries showed that patients treated by nurses were no less health and were in fact more satisfied than those treated by doctors.

Now all of what I said was re-written from a wonderful recent article by The Economist on this very subject. It's titled "Squeezing Out the Doctor" and should be read by anybody who wants to debate this topic.

Read your post, not the article... limited time.

I agree that we can get more NPs involved, etc. Having to have an MD for every little cold is silly.

We are also short of NPs, RNs, etc, though...
Of course, I don't know how that magic number is determined beyond the idea we should have 1 doctor for every X amount of people.

 

[ParkCungHee]

They object to the introduction of socialised healthcare in the US, so they're moving to a place where healthcare is more socialised?

Based on this, the coverage CFC has received on the Democratic Primary and personal experience, supporting socialism seems to be the most popular conservative tactic to oppose Obama.