So why is everyone ignoring the out of control prices physicians, hospitals, and pharmacists charge?

[Docreed2003]

45. It always makes me a little irate when the discussions of physicians salary comes up...

At the end of the day, the number of physicians trying to milk the system to maximize their profits pales in comparison to those of us who want nothing more than to provide quality care for our patients. The topic of physicians salaries should not be equated to "physicians are gouging the system and making too much money." Reimbursement rates vary greatly for region to region and even state to state. When I lived in RI, I was "reimbursed" significantly less for major operations than physicians just across the border in MA. Those rates are set by the government, not physicians.

I spent the majority of my 20's training to do my job. I entered medical school at 21 and finished training at 30. From the time I started residency until I finished five years later, I worked 80-100 hrs or more a week, just to gain the experience needed for my craft. Today, work hours are more restricted in residency and while this is a benefit in many ways, residents are graduating with less experience and less confidence in their craft, thus many are seeking even further specialty training just to gain comfort in their field. Eventually, training is going to be longer in order to continue putting out well trained physicians.

In rural areas, hospitals are forced to pay their providers much higher than market value just to recruit and retain physicians.

Primary care physicians are often forced to work longer hours for less pay and they are on the front lines of our field, caring for the most patients

Regulations and requirements like electronic medical records have been a huge financial burden to most practices and to older physicians, many who aren't tech savvy are forced to hire "scribes" to do their electronic paperwork and records upkeep.

Medical malpractice is outrageous, especially for those of us in specialty surgical fields, but it's part of the price of doing business.

Yes, the pharmaceutical industry is out of control. Yes, the medical equipment and device companies are out of control. But we need both for further advances in the field of medicine!

Finally, as I said at the outset, I understand and agree that a small minority of doctors do misue the system to attempt to maximize their personal profits, but that's not the majority. We're just doing our best to care for our patients in the best way that we can.