San Francisco Business Times Examines Physician Exodus from Managed Care Networks
The San Francisco Business Times this week looks at the increasing number of physicians who are refusing to accept new patients with managed care coverage and how that trend will affect the already "fractured health care system." In response to high patient loads, low reimbursements and increasing administration and paperwork duties, more physicians are pulling out of the managed care system and requiring patients to pay up-front for services. According to a recent survey conducted by University of California-San Francisco's Center for the Health Professions and sponsored by the California HealthCare Foundation, most doctors in California are accepting new patients, but only 58% are accepting new HMO patients. The managed care exodus will place additional strain on the health care system that already is struggling with increasing costs and treating an aging population, the Business Times reports. As more doctors leave HMO and preferred provider organization networks, employees will be less satisfied with their health plans, according to health care consultant Peter Boland. As a result, more employers will begin to offer consumer-driven health plans, Boland said (Walker, San Francisco Business Times, 12/6).
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