Death Row Syndrome for Physicians
This is a very small snippet from my talk in 2017. It describes Death Row Syndrome for physicians who are still stuck in the system (industrialized model). I bring this up now because of a recent article I read called In Rural Massachusetts, Patients and Physicians Weigh Trade-Offs of Concierge Medicine. It’s not a bad piece from KFF but they fail to show how affordable DPC is compared to Concierge Medicine. That’s a pretty important piece, don’t you think?
What they did show was the mindset of some patients:
“I’m insulted and I’m offended,” Andrews said. “I would never, never expect to have to pay more out of my pocket to get the kind of care that I should be getting with my insurance premiums.”
Patients just don’t understand that insurance companies are ripping them off, that these parasites are taking almost all the money, that they are not the ones giving them care, and that their doctor, who is in the system, is burning out. That being said, I would tell this patient to “Be Well” and move on.
Back to my point about Death Row Syndrome. Here is what one physician said in the article:
Paul Carlan, a primary care doctor who runs Valley Medical Group in western Massachusetts, said his practice is more stretched than ever. One reason is that the group’s clinics are absorbing some of the patients who have lost their doctor to concierge medicine.
“We all contribute through our tax dollars, which fund these training programs,” Carlan said.
“And so, to some degree, the folks who practice health care in our country are a public good,” Carlan said. “We should be worried when folks are making decisions about how to practice in ways that reduce their capacity to deliver that good back to the public.”
Dr. Carlan, you don’t owe your life to the public. Sorry, dude, your days are numbered but by all means stay on Death Row. Maybe the AAFP will help you. ROTFL.
The best part was when the only DPC doc (Shayne Taylor, MD) in the article responded:
But Taylor, who has the direct primary care practice, said it’s not fair to demand that individual doctors take on the task of fixing a dysfunctional health care system.
“It’s either we do something like this,” Taylor said, “or we quit.”
Boom.
