Physicians are working more, enjoying it less

Morale is getting worse, says a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, and managed care is often blamed.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. June 3, 2002.

One Friday morning in his Tampa office, David Lubin, MD, saw 27 patients in four hours.

"I was kind of beat," he said.

Another time, the family doctor tried to order a test to see whether a patient had cancer in her abdomen. Before it would cover the test, the insurance company asked whether the woman had cancer in her abdomen.

"I said, 'How do I know, that's why I want to order the test.' "

Such stresses have eaten away at Dr. Lubin's zest for the medical profession. And he isn't alone.

In a recent physician survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, about six in 10 physicians said their enthusiasm for practicing medicine has dropped during the last five years. And they think their colleagues feel the same way: 87% of the physicians surveyed said the overall morale of physicians has decreased in five years.

Three in four doctors said managed care has had a negative impact on how they practice medicine, according to the nonprofit foundation's study, which looked at doctors' views of their profession as part of its National Survey of Physicians. The figures were based on answers from 2,608 physicians who responded to a mail survey from March 26 through Oct. 11, 2001.

The majority of doctors said managed care has increased paperwork and overhead costs for physicians' practices. A majority also said managed care has decreased the amount of time spent with patients, the ability of patients to see specialists and the quality of health care.

"Since managed care has become a part of our health system, physicians see it as having negative influences," said Mollyann Brodie, PhD, the Kaiser foundation's vice president for public opinion and media research. [...]