Re: Many doctors plan to quit or cut back

[Guest guest]

In the long run, this may be a good thing in that it will force more

Americans to take care of themselves and find natural, workable

solutions at home for some of the diseases that are diet and lifestyle

related. In that regard, we've got a heads up on it, through our

detoxing and natural healing therapies that we've used, and SEEN

results with. I've a feeling we will see natural medicine making a

comeback like we've never seen before...otherwise, this outlook is

grim with fewer doctors putting in time and yet more patients!

>

> We are definitely in for some changes in the medical field.

> Many doctors plan to quit or cut back: survey>

>

>

> Tue Nov 18, 1:07 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –

> Primary care doctors

> in the United States feel overworked and nearly half plan to either cut

> back on how many patients they see or quit medicine entirely, according

> to a survey released on Tuesday.

>

>

> And 60 percent of 12,000 general practice physicians found they

would not recommend medicine as a career.

>

>

> " The whole thing has spun out of control. I plan to retire early even

> though I still love seeing patients. The process has just become too

> burdensome, " the Physicians' Foundation, which conducted the survey,

> quoted one of the doctors as saying.

>

>

> The survey adds to building evidence that not enough internal

medicine or family practice doctors are trained or practicing in the

United States, although there are plenty of specialist physicians.

>

>

> Health care reform is near the top of the list of priorities for

both Congress and president-elect Barack Obama,

> and doctor's groups are lobbying for action to reduce their workload

> and hold the line on payments for treating Medicare, Medicaid and other

> patients with federal or state health insurance.

>

>

> The Physicians' Foundation, founded in 2003 as part of a settlement in

> an anti-racketeering lawsuit among physicians, medical societies, and

> insurer Aetna, Inc., mailed surveys to 270,000 primary care doctors and

> 50,000 practicing specialists.

>

>

> The 12,000 answers are considered representative of doctors as a

whole, the group said, with a margin of error of about 1 percent. It

found that 78 percent of those who answered believe there is a

shortage of primary care doctors.

>

>

> More than 90 percent said the time they devote to non-clinical

> paperwork has increased in the last three years and 63 percent said

> this has caused them to spend less time with each patient.

>

>

> Eleven percent said they plan to retire and 13 percent said they plan

> to seek a job that removes them from active patient care. Twenty

> percent said they will cut back on patients seen and 10 percent plan to

> move to part-time work.

>

>

> Seventy six percent of physicians said they are working at " full

capacity " or " overextended and overworked " .

>