http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/10/primary-care-handymen.html Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/10/primary-care-handymen.html#comment-87611 Dr. K Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:18:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/10/primary-care-handymen.html#comment-87611 The explanation by physicians is that primary care is not as lucrative as being in one of the specialties, especially one that is procedure oriented. Reimbursement from insurance companies and the government is based on how many procedure you do. This leads to overtreatment, safety concerns, and added expense (to the tune of $770billion a year). Primary care docs rarely do procedures, and insurance doesn't pay much for office visits; therefore their salaries are about 1/3 those of specialists. In most European countries all doctors are paid the same, but they can get bonuses by providing quality care. Primary care doctors are at the front line of our healthcare system; they prevent chronic disease by intervening before the disease has time to progress. They coordinate care for patients among all the specialties and subspecialties, thereby avoiding duplication of treatments and medications. When you think about it, it is easy to understand why Europe has cheaper and better healthcare then we do in the USA. For more discussion, please see http://takingcontrolofyourhealthcare.com/. The explanation by physicians is that primary care is not as lucrative as being in one of the specialties, especially one that is procedure oriented. Reimbursement from insurance companies and the government is based on how many procedure you do. This leads to overtreatment, safety concerns, and added expense (to the tune of $770billion a year). Primary care docs rarely do procedures, and insurance doesn’t pay much for office visits; therefore their salaries are about 1/3 those of specialists. In most European countries all doctors are paid the same, but they can get bonuses by providing quality care. Primary care doctors are at the front line of our healthcare system; they prevent chronic disease by intervening before the disease has time to progress. They coordinate care for patients among all the specialties and subspecialties, thereby avoiding duplication of treatments and medications. When you think about it, it is easy to understand why Europe has cheaper and better healthcare then we do in the USA. For more discussion, please see http://takingcontrolofyourhealthcare.com/.

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