June 8, 2012

Nine out of 10 doctors say medicine is on the wrong track, most think about quitting and find it hard to practice ethical medicine. They say government is most to blame for the mess, but  are quick to add neither Congress nor the President - can be trusted to fix things, according to a new national survey of doctors presented today by the Doctor Patient Medical Association at a medical policy summit at Georgetown Law Center in Washington DC.

“The numbers of doctors who are ready to throw in the towel are stunning,” said Kathryn Serkes at the 2^nd International Summit on Health Privacy, where she spoke. Serkes is Founder and Chair of the Doctor Patient Medical Association Foundation and author of the survey, which concluded on May 26. 

“These results are particularly enlightening about the shaky future of private practice –  it may go the way of Marcus Welby and the old country doc, “ said Serkes.  “Private practice doctors say they are an endangered species whose existence is threatened by poaching by corporate medicine, insurance and government,” said Serkes.  “This is a slow-motion medical disaster in the making.”

They survey includes 699 doctors,  23% Primary Care Providers (Internal Medicine, Family Practice),  10% General Surgery, 11% Hospital-based specialists and 56% Office-based specialists in active practice across  45 states.

Survey questions

The doctors were polled on questions like whether they are still able to practice ethical medicine, if private practice is being pushed out by corporate medicine, and how current changes impact their desire to practice.

They were asked to assess who’s to blame for the current mess in health care, who is most likely to fix it, and what they think will indeed fix it.

Also:  asked to grade the job the American Medical Association (AMA) is doing, if they are willing to speak publicly about problems in medicine, and how they are doing financially.

The survey, executive report, detailed analysis, and the data will be released on Friday, June 8, on the Doctor Patient Medical Association website at www.DoctorsAndPatients.org. 

Please let us know if you want us to email the report to you as soon as it is available:  info@DoctorsAndPatients.org