I agree totally with what Jon said. Based on a local clinic takeover, the physicians seemed to make significantly more money, but pretty much had to sell their souls. Many of them didn't mind, as the clinic was struggling prior to the takeover, and the relief of knowing they were going to be OK financially made up for calling their own shots. The hospital does nothing to encourage efficient or appropriate use of resources and hospital based testing, and patient costs are very high. But as one of my friends commented when I said they were selling their souls, "So what? They were not using them anyway."


David Grauman MD
Department of Medicine
Commonwealth Health Center
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands