What's Being Done to Save Independent Healthcare?

In recent months, I have been encouraged by the increased media attention given to?private practice physicians and dentists as they struggle to maintain independence in the current healthcare arena. This subject?has long been on our minds at Health Professionals Alliance (HPA) and DataDx because it sparked our very existence. To see this?issue gaining traction in several?major publications by some talented journalists has helped launch it?into the mainstream where it belongs.??

Back in December 2021, Devorah Goldman wrote a great opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal focused on how increasing consolidation trends are not having the impacts?promised. Instead of lowering costs, they are driving up healthcare costs for patients while simultaneously diminishing the quality of care. That same month, Colin Flanders from Vermont’s Independent Voice Seven Days refers to independent physicians as a “dying breed” in his state?and stresses how hard rural areas are being hit by this trend. More recently, Patsy Newitt from Becker’s ASC Review wrote on the many drawbacks of physicians flocking to employed models and?echoed many of the other concerns mentioned in those previous articles. ?

Adding to that conversation, Len Strazewski wrote in the American Medical Association (AMA) about some of the threats independent physicians are facing today. From rising administrative burdens to feeling professionally isolated, many doctors are giving up on running their own practice. And not because it is the best outcome, but because they are increasingly overwhelmed by an?ever-changing healthcare model. In our line of work, we?know all too well how?these challenges contribute to the ongoing?mass exodus from private practice, and we know how often doctors regret making that decision. The question is, what are we going to do about it???

I am all about rolling up my sleeves and getting to work tackling?an issue. I love to focus my time and energy on developing solutions versus dwelling on problems, which may be?why I am the CEO of two companies that were born to empower doctors to stay independent.?I took some time last month to respond directly to the AMA article with several specific solutions we offer at HPA and DataDx that were designed to help our members thrive despite these threats. I invite you to read my thoughts in my article Independent Healthcare is Worth Fighting For.??

It is time to reinvent the private practice model so that we can preserve independent healthcare?well into the future. ?