More and more doctors are moving away from private practice and are instead becoming employees of hospitals and health systems, reports the NYT.
This trend could mean more coordinated and better care for patients, though without the personal touch that private practice offers. Patients are more likely to see the same doctor in private practice than they are in a health center setting.
For docs, receiving a salary from an employer could mean less worries about changes to the health-care system. They also don’t have to worry about implementing expensive electronic medical records in their practices, according to the NYT. But it also does mean that the practice of medicine is likely changing permanently.
“When I was young, you didnt blink an eye at being on call all the time, going to the hospital, being up all night, Gordon Hughes, chairman of the board of trustees for the Indiana State Medical Association, told the NYT. “But the young people coming out of training now dont want to do much call and dont want the risk of buying into a practice, but they still want a good lifestyle and a big salary. You cant have it both ways.”