A number in a computer. Now HMO wanted me to start treating him as a number, too. Physicians who are reading this may recognize some of their own feelings and experiences. Doctors are worried about the future of their practices. Then there is the strain to the doctor-patient relationship.
Some new patients are openly hostile.
One of the casualties of managed care has been charity care. A recent study confirms what doctors have long suspected. When doctors begin seeing mostly managed care patients, the percentage of free or charity work which they do declines. This is inevitable. If a doctor is seeing ten more patients a day and working two or three extra hours just to cover his overhead and pay himself a salary, he is not going to have time to work in non paying patients.