Are the days of the independent physician coming to an end?

There is a trend away from independent practice but you overstate the advantages of employment in a medical system.

Low payments from insurers will still translate into low pay for physicians, especially in primary care. The big medical systems can’t subsidize money losing clinics to the extent they could in the past.

Given the poor state of current EMRs, care coordination, and guidelines, those aren’t driving the trend to employment as much as fear of owning a business during the slow painful collapse of third party payment medicine.

Not everybody is made to be an employee. I work part time as an independent physician and part time being employed by a large MSG. I hate every minute of the way the group treats the patients. It is the difference between a plastic spoon “made in China” but nicely packed and a hand crafted silver spoon sold in a plastic bag.
The problem is, most patients have forgotten how it feels when the doctor knows your name and your voice on the phone.