Perfunctory Healthcare

Since getting some semblance of health insurance, I’ve felt like the doctors I’ve dealt with have been competent, but curt, and I felt like my primary physician is just a dispatcher to a specialist.  Last night, I heard a story on All Things Considered that suggested that I wasn’t alone in my experience and that there are reasons (of course) why the care I get is the way that it is.

“You have someone on your hands with five separate medical problems, 15 minutes to see them. If you spend the extra half hour, you don’t get paid for it, so the pressure is to refer them to a subspecialist,” Levy explains. “It takes a lot of the pleasure and fun out of doing medicine.”

Check out the rest of Mass. Health Care Reform Reveals Doctor Shortage.