Chief Medical Officer at First Stop Health and emergency room physician Dr. Mark Friedman answers questions about medicine and the medical system on Medpage.com.
What's the biggest barrier to practicing medicine today?
The biggest barrier to practicing medicine is a lack of vision, innovation, and enthusiasm on the part of physicians. Unfortunately, too many of our colleagues simply go along with what they are told by the insurance industry, government, practice managers, employers and a host of other "bean counters" who think they know how to "manage" healthcare (and physicians). We need to be more active (politically and directly) in exposing wasteful mandates, resisting pressure to take shortcuts at the expense of our patients, and collaborating with the monetary culture of healthcare. Leadership is called for rather than passive acquiescence. Become "part of the solution."
Read the complete interview here.