Doctors

Now that the landmark health care reform bill has been passed, the nature of the relationship between doctors and patients will change. The bill goes does not into effect until 2014 but doctors and patients alike are already wondering how this historical legislation will effect them personally. What will happen to doctors after the next for years? How will it shape their careers? Experts in the medical field and insurance industries are divided on the prospects of health care reform’s impact on their business and careers. For patients, the results effects will be beneficial, for the most part, as the legislation is clearly designed to increase access to the care of doctor’s But what impact would this legislation have on the next generation of doctors graduating out of medical school?

The increased availability of medical care to most Americans is a good thing but it will also increase demand for primary care doctors. Currently only about a third of medical students go on to become primary care doctors. The amount of primary care doctors was acceptable in the years before the implementation of health care reform because mostly people who have health care visit primary care doctors. The way health care insurance was structured before the passage of the health care reform bill gave two thirds of doctors to specialize as insurance payments for these types of doctors was more lucrative. Primary care doctors live comfortably but generally do not earn as much money as their specialized counterparts.

This could cause a shortage of primary care doctors in the first years after the new law goes into effect. This shortage would increase waiting times at primary care doctor’s offices nationwide. The effect on hospital care is also likely to change due to new incentives for younger doctors to go into primary care. Increased numbers of primary care doctors would in the future foster healthier Americans because primary care doctors approach medicine in a holistic manner. Primary care doctors also generally do more preventative medicine practices than other doctors. Fighting illness before it even happens increases the overall health of populations instead of the current system of fighting illness as it occurs. The current system of care, known by opponents as “sick” care states that doctors contribute to chronic illness by failing to prevent illness in the first place. The new legislation offers incentives to fill in the coming shortage of primary care doctors and surgeons, offering a 10% bonus on starting salary.

There are also disparities in the way doctors are paid as the system works today. Two doctors could have the same amount of training and be paid radically different. This legislation changes the way doctors are paid which might fill in those disparities in the future. Whether or not someone agrees or disagrees with the health care reform law, the law is a historical landmark in the manner in which health care is provided between doctors and patients. Only time will tell if these historical measures live up to the good quality of health care All Americans deserve. Doctors would find ways to benefit from this system as the system changes as well. The bill includes incentives and those are important to creating growth. After all, the law can always be amended if it does not work.