The Globe’s article on patient access and physician burnout (“Fewer doctors means longer waits for care,” Page A1, March 17) was timely but omitted a few critical points. The per capita number of physicians in Massachusetts is the highest of any state in the country. Also, more and more doctors practice as employees of large enterprises.
As a retired physician who worked both in large multispecialty medical groups as well as in private practice, I can say that private practice was my happy place. If there was a need for personnel or equipment, I could solve it rather than auditioning for an administrator’s voice mail and hoping that I got attention. My schedule was what I wanted it to be and my commitment was to my patients.
Advertisement
Today physicians are being told that they should avoid private practice. The environment has become tangled with regulations and reporting requirements generated by bureaucrats for bureaucrats. Preferential contracting for large, costly health care systems deprive those in private practice of adequate fees while it fuels 7-figure salaries for administrators who do not see patients.
Doctors can thrive when allowed to express their professionalism and pride, and they can suffocate when functioning as a “provider” in large organizations.
Dr. B. Dale Magee
Shrewsbury
