CPM Spring 2019 - 6

daup h i n cm s .org

President's Message

Private Practice Dead? 

I Don't Think So

T

Jaan Sidorov, MD
President, DCMS

here is hardly a news day that goes by without an announcement of some new
healthcare merger, purchase, joint venture or partnership.  Usually involving
large institutions, these mega-deals give the impression that the smaller private
practices offices, usually owned by doctors, are doomed.

I beg to differ.  I have spent months on the road meeting with physician-led clinical
practices across the state and they are numerous, they are strong, and they are fiercely
independent. Most are housed in modern buildings, have access to state-of-the-art
equipment, are staffed by teams of professionals, are ably led by smart clinicians and
have earned the lasting loyalty of a patient clientele who eschew the one-size-fits-all
style of the large delivery systems.
Don't get me wrong.  I worked many years in a large integrated delivery system and
I'm proud of the care that I and my colleagues provided to our patients.  However, I
knew then - and I know it even better now - that there is a network of scrappy doctors
who provide an important market alternative to the large mega systems and their large
mega deals.  In fact, I would suggest that these smaller practices are one of the best
kept secrets in healthcare.
I too have read many of the editorials written by physicians who mourn how
healthcare has changed, how clinical practice is no longer rewarding and how they are
advising young people to avoid a career in medicine.  As a doctor, I agree there have
been tumultuous changes, and that the doctor-patient relationship is not what it used
to be.  However, I am heartened by the hundreds of physicians who I have met who
are too busy taking good care of their patients to write editorials.  They're in charge
of their practices, have the trust of their patients and have managed to bring pride to
their profession.  Chances are there's one of these fine physicians within a few miles
of you while you're reading this.
Mergers, purchases, joint ventures or partnerships?  There's lots of action there, to be sure. 
But there's lots of action outside that spotlight, involving docs seeing patients in clinics. 
Good for them, good for market alternatives and most of all, good for the profession.

6

Spring 2019 Central PA Medicine
http://www.dauphincms.org
CPM Spring 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CPM Spring 2019
