Physician Payments Are Going Down

Dear Colleagues:

Enclosed is an important article written by some of our fellow surgeons. It is unique in that it looks at the economic reality we all face. The graph from this article shown below tells the story and it is one about being “on the table” rather than “at the table.” At least this may be the case for most of us.

To be fair, the COGs and personnel costs have gone up significantly so increased payment to the facility makes some sense; however, professional payments going down are penal and make no sense, especially when one considers there is no consideration of value based on quality. By this I mean it is the service for which one is paid, not the quality of that service; so poor quality and complications are valued the same as excellent quality.

As Warren Buffet says, “Quality is what you should pay for, and Value is what you should get.” Unfortunately, this does not seem to apply to healthcare services.

This is the reality for all of us and I can’t see how it is sustainable. I do think there are opportunities for disruption of this model, but that will be another post.

Best Regards,

Jon “JP” Warner MD

Founder, The CSS