The Annals of Family Medicine came out and the editorial was interesting. It looks like the author is trying to avenge us. Dr. Kurt Stange titled it Time for Family Medicine to Stop Enabling a Dysfunctional Health Care System and mystically, he seems to be at his wit’s end.
The many well-intentioned patches designed to improve primary care have added untenable administrative burden, made care less available and less open to the patient’s agenda, and have diminished and demoralized the workforce.
Of course, we all knew this would happen. When the alphabet organizations agreed to everything the insurance companies and government wanted, we were always going to get screwed.
Thankfully, Dr. Stange says this:
We already see glimmers of possibility for re-energizing the role of the personal family physician in the actions of direct primary care physicians who care for mixed panels of working poor and more-advantaged patients, charging an accessible monthly subscription fee to assure all primary care for panels of around 500 patients.
DPC is not a glimmer. We are in the end game, Dr. Stange, and DPC is the only light left.
Check out the article and tell me what you think.
Has many good points except:
We see the systemic possibilities in physician-led accountable care organizations that have improved quality and controlled costs by investing in on-the-ground knowing and relationships and use that capital to selectively contract for targeted use of more specialized services.
Unsure the meaning of the above.
Also speaks from the outside looking in.