I recently read an article about a physician who had sold his practice to a hospital. The physician was quoted as having stated that he had grown disenchanted with running the business end of his own practice, thus his agreement to “have my practice managed by” the hospital.
The viewpoint of that article was that this signals a disconnect between the physician and the hospital: The physician needed more than management; the physician and the hospital needed to be more aligned as to the hospital’s goals and objectives to be met.
I agree that there’s a disconnect, but I believe that it’s on an entirely different level.
The physician speaks as if he’s simply signed a management agreement in respect of his practice, when the reality is far different: he no longer has a practice, it is owned by the hospital and he is simply an employee, an employee who has to be “aligned” like a flange.
That is, for as long as he’s employed.
