It seems like more and more doctors and specialists are choosing to work for hospitals (or large medical consortiums) instead of continuing in private practice. As this trend continues, the pros and cons are beginning are more apparent.
Obviously, running your own clinic allows you to set your own schedule, and of course lets you be in business for yourself. How nice, right? True, but there’s a lot of responsibility, hard work, overhead, financial risk, etc. Government regulations are increasingly onerous to meet. This is just one of many reasons that physicians seem to be shying away from private ownership.
Hospitals recognize this pattern and are taking advantage of it by recruiting new graduates and offering high salaries right out of the gate. When newly graduated physicians are offered high pay, benefits and job security… no wonder independent clinics are not popping up as frequently as they used to.
It’s not just new graduates that are migrating to hospitals either. With all of the recent changes in the healthcare industry, seasoned professionals are taking advantage of the job security provided by the larger institutions. With coverage being mandated now via Obamacare, there is expected to be a dramatic increase in physician visits. Hospitals are tapping their financial resources to address that influx of patients. That’s why they’re offering such sweet incentives. No wonder some doctors are closing their practices or selling out to hospital ownership and management.
The additional salary and overhead expense makes a definite impact on the hospital resources but they wouldn’t do it if they believed it wouldn’t be profitable.