A recent survey by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found that the “future of the medical profession may be in jeopardy as it loses clinical autonomy and compensation.”
Among the key findings:
- 55% expect physicians, primarily in private practice, intend to retire sooner due to the ACA
- 80% believe the face of the future in medicine over the next decade involves interdisciplinary teams and care coordinators. Most all expect individualism will suffer as a result.
- 52% expect their incomes to drop significantly in the next three years
- 75% of physicians (higher among surgical specialists at 81 percent) think the best and brightest may not consider a career in medicine
I find the latter two bullets most disconcerting because it dovetails with physician concerns in Great Britain just before healthcare was nationalized there. Prior to that event, nearly all doctors in GB were British born and educated. Flash forward to today and we find only 39% are native Britons and 75% of all doctors in GB are trained and educated abroad.
This is not to say the quality of the doctors is poorer (in fact, I do not know), but clearly a significant percentage of the best and brightest chose other paths. I’m certain this is not one of the outcomes we are seeking with the ACA, but it looks like one we are likely to get.