Private practice physicians are struggling to compete with the deep pockets of consolidated health systems.
Taif Mukhdomi, MD, an interventional pain physician at New Albany, Ohio-based Pain Zero, joined Becker's to discuss why private practice physicians don't have more power in healthcare.
Editor's note: This interview was edited lightly for brevity and clarity.
Question: Why don't private practice physicians have more power in healthcare?
Dr. Taif Mukhdomi: Healthcare has become increasingly regulated over the past decade. Long gone are the days when physicians could decide to hang a shingle and announce to the community that they were open. To open a practice nowadays requires legal consultation, registration with medical and pharmacy boards, and often includes asking permission from officials, insurance companies and hospital systems to start taking care of patients.
Newly trained physicians have spent the past decade of training learning how to treat patients and have not been educated about the healthcare system. The additional frustration is competing with hospital systems leveraging hundreds of physicians to further the company while private practices tend to be smaller in size. Private practice physicians will struggle to hold as much power as these systems unless there is a shift within the healthcare system toward leveling the playing field.