Cary Passik, MD, chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Suffern, N.Y.-based Good Samaritan Hospital, joined Becker's to discuss the biggest threats to physicians and how hospital closures are affecting physicians.
Editor's note: This response was edited lightly for brevity and length.
Question: What's the biggest threat to physicians right now?
Cary Passik: I believe the biggest threat to physicians is the progressive loss of autonomy such that they are not making the decisions for the patients, but those decisions are made for reasons and by people for other than the patient's benefit. I think the administrative burdens of being a physician have become so onerous, where physicians are becoming a scribe of medical records, such that the patient-physician relationship is being progressively destroyed.
Q: How are increasing hospital closures affecting physicians?
CP: I'm not convinced that hospital closures are a great threat to physicians because if they're flexible, they can usually relocate to a more profitable and successful hospital. It may cause a disruption in their lives, but as we have a shortage of physicians, they can usually find their cheese elsewhere.