One excerpt from a physician in the trenches:
Dr. Robert Monteiro, an internist in New Bern, N.C., said, "There is a huge amount of interference into the doctor-patient relationship, and that has a large impact on your professional satisfaction. You want to come to treatment decisions without someone telling you what to do and how to do it."He also linked to an article in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) detailing the new pressures on physicians.
Monteiro said preauthorization for medications, imaging, and treatments requires increasing amounts of time. He said the uncompensated time required to complete paperwork associated with patient care limits patient access, because physicians run out of hours. He added that the constantly shifting insurance-plan changes and requirements can be overwhelming.
"It's as if you are playing a game and don't know the rules. Then rules constantly change and maybe you get penalized for new rules, even if you don’t know what they are. As doctors, we have no problem justifying how we take care of patients. But having to fill out a three-page form to get a generic blood thinner is ridiculous," he said.
In particular, the JAMA article notes: "Clinicians increasingly are expected to substitute social and economic goals for the needs of a single patient."
Patients may want to start asking: Is my doctor really working for me?
(Link via Dr. Matthew Bowdish.)
