Dan,
I agree with your position here. I don't think anyone would argue that serious reform wasn't in order and that reform must include better access to care for all. Forget about doctors pay. This government takeover of health care will be simply disastrous for the physician/patient relationship. The goal of the current reform is not to make every patient equal but to make every physician and treatment exactly the same. The goal of EHR's, ICD-10, meaningful use, blah blah blah is to force every physician to send the same data to the government & insurance companies. There will be intense pressure for physicians to treat patients with specific algorithms for every condition with less and less physician autonomy. This way all the metrics will be standardized for easy measurement to determine "quality of care" which will replace fee for service as the method of payment by the government and possibly insurance. Physicians will all essentially be technicians in the future simply signing off on treatments that have been predetermined. This will erode our status as medical experts in society and devalue the very special relationship we have with our patients. There will be evidence based medicine and nothing else. I cherish the special dual role I have with my patients as both a physician and psychiatrist. I feel like a dinosaur in all these changes, though I am only 44 years old. I just see the future of healthcare interfering with our ability to continue to fulfill the Hippocratic Oath that most of us took in medical school. Anyways, time to have some fun...it's Saturday Night.
