Majority of Physicians Concerned About the Future

A new survey reveals that most US physicians are concerned about the future of the profession, and consider many changes in the market to be a threat.

The 2013 survey, conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (New York, NY, USA), points to several major concerns among physicians, principally resulting from declining clinical autonomy and income. Nearly 6 in 10 physicians are concerned about the future of medicine, and pessimism has resulted in nearly 75% agreeing that "the best and brightest" may avoid a career in medicine—an increase from 69% in the previous survey.

Other major findings reveal that malpractice reform is a major concern. Two thirds of all physicians expect that there will be an increase in consolidation of physicians into larger organizations in the next 1-3 years. Four in 10 physicians said their take-home pay declined from 2011 to 2012, with nearly 40% blaming the Affordable Care Act (ACA). More than half of those surveyed believe physician incomes will fall substantially in the coming years, and see Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements as problematic, prompting many to limit or close their practices to these enrollees.

Physicians in the study agree that the current healthcare system is flawed, and only 31% give it a grade of A or B; as to whether the ACA can fix it, 44% said it was a step in the right direction. The number who said it was a step in the wrong direction dropped from 44% to 38%. Early retirements are also expected, with 60% saying it is likely many physicians will retire earlier than they had planned within the next three years because of the changes in medicine. This view changed little with age, sex, or medical specialty.

On the other hand, 7 in 10 physicians reported they were satisfied with their careers, with the most satisfied groups being nonsurgical specialists (67%) and physicians aged 25 to 39 (80%). Primary care physicians were the least satisfied division, at 59%. Among physicians who say they are satisfied, nearly 4 in 10 say patient relationships are the most important factor behind that, followed by promoting patients' health (32%), and intellectual stimulation (19%). Electronic health record (HER) adoption by physicians is expected to increase, and connectivity with patients using online or mobile technologies and personal EHRs is expected to become increasingly important to physicians.

The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions annual survey selects a random sample of primary care and specialist physicians from the American Medical Association (AMA; Chicago, IL, USA) master file of physicians, reflecting the US national distribution of physicians by years in practice, sex, region, and medical specialty. In 2013, 613 physicians completed the online questionnaire. The margin of error is +/- 3.89 at the 95% confidence level.

Related Links:
Deloitte Center for Health Solutions
American Medical Association