Editor’s note: This response was edited lightly for brevity and clarity.
Question: Why don’t private practice physicians have more power in healthcare?
Dr. Tirun Gopal: It is becoming increasingly difficult for private practice physicians to devote any time to anything other than the practice of medicine, what with the diminishing compensation for services, time spent in keeping up to date with recent developments and the administrative time spent on maintaining a place of business. Nor is it easy for them to acquire the qualifications and skills needed for administrative work, including MBA, MPH, etc.
Furthermore, we have relinquished our control of the environment in which we practice (such as hospitals) to people who are either not physicians or physicians who have given up the practice of medicine, realizing that it is far more lucrative to lead physicians than to be one. The tables have hence turned. We allow these leaders, who do not bring a single penny to the organization, to tell us how to practice medicine, how much they will pay us, while they are laughing all the way to the bank with their unconscionable compensations.
