More Physicians Close Their Practices

CNN Money reported today on the growing trend of American physicians selling their practice to hospitals. According to the article, private practice purchases by hospitals rose 30 to 40 percent since 2008.

The reasons behind a physician’s decision to sell include increasingly burdensome red tape and bureaucracy, shrinking Medicare payments, and the promise of even more regulations once the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is completely rolled out.  CNN Money reported, “Doctors are tired of the hassle of filing insurance claims and collecting payments from patients and want to only focus on medicine again … [The PPACA] has also created more fear of the unknown. Doctors are worried that new regulations will add to their administrative work and require them to pour more money into their businesses.”

"We have a joke that there are two kinds of private practices left in America,” Montana oncologist Patrick Cobb, MD, told CNN. “Those that sold to hospitals and those that are about to be sold."

They are not alone. Texas physicians also are choosing to either sell their practice or shut it down altogether, as was the case for Houston physician Robert McWilliams, MD, and La Porte physician Joe Mock, MD.

Additional Reading:
HoustonPhysician Closes Practice
Medicare Red Tape Claims Another Physician Practice