4 Top Complaints of Employed Doctors

Introduction

The transition of physicians from private practice to hospital employment can be quite rocky. The biggest challenge, say consultants and physician leaders, is the loss of autonomy that many physicians experience when they become employed. This loss of autonomy shows up in several different aspects of practice.

Today, over one half of all US physicians are employed, according to the Medical Group Management Association. About 60% of family physicians are now working for either hospitals or physician groups, says the American Academy of Family Physicians. The American Hospital Association says hospitals employ 220,000 doctors, or about 45% of staff physicians, but the American Medical Association (AMA) contends that one half of these doctors are residents or fellows.

Whatever the real number is, more and more physicians are going to work for hospitals. Many of these doctors formerly owned their practices, but found it too difficult to continue running their own businesses because of new regulatory demands and increasing financial pressures.

These areas create some of the major woes of employment.