The latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), includes an extensive discussion on the future of primary care, stating that:

The challenges are formidable, for there are so many reasons for young physicians to go into other fields. Many physicians graduate from medical school with staggering debts, and procedure-oriented specialties offer higher potential incomes. The work of primary care is itself overwhelming. Primary care physicians often go home worried that they may have made mistakes, or dispirited because they did not complete their work.

What’s important to note is that the abrasiveness of the healthcare system is starting to reach beyond primary care and many other physicians are dealing with increasing workloads and decreasing reimbursements. As we think how to fix primary care, we must identify and eliminate the root causes of the problem, which are affecting the system as a whole. This includes the greedy and misguided middlemen and the predatory malpractice environment.

Filed under: Health Policy