Cubicles
My best friend, and ex medical partner, texted me about the following:
The hospital has moved all the OB and Peds doctors into one large room. Took away their offices. Each works in a 5 by 5 cubicle. All docs leaving. Hiring mid levels.
Yup. One doctor is fighting to put her diploma on the cubicle wall but, alas, was rejected.
Well, the plan is working. The administrators always wanted to pay less and are doing whatever they can to accomplish this.
- Remove physician offices. Check.
- Force doctors who have a backbone to leave. Check.
- Have midlevels replace doctors. Check.
It is just so sad.
And how about the cubicle concept? Where did I see that NOT work before? Oh, yeah, the movie Office Space.
TPS reports = Quality Metrics
From a dreaded “mid-level”.
How do you examine a patient from a cubicle? I don’t understand this. I can understand taking away your medical assistant, or even sharing an exam room which yes, we “mid-level” have had to endure but how do you do an exam in a cubicle?
Seriously?
Dave
Wow, looks like Dr Doug’s privatised medicine has come home to roost.
Ha ha. I’ve always said that in spite of all the problems of working in Medicine, at least it’s still got two things going for it: You can go to work in your pajamas, and you get a real office.
I’m glad, at the least, that the doctors are retaining their self respect and leaving.
Personally, I’m frantically trying to come up with some other way to make a similar amount of money, but I haven’t found it yet (sorry, Doug, but I think I’m way too burned out to do DPC).
The move to mid-levels is inevitable for any one of a number of reasons. Fighting it is useless. Moving just prolongs the inevitable. Other the becoming a mid-level yourself there are three options.
1) Get out
2) Super-specialize, especially surgical
3) Take MBA courses so can manage the mid-levels