Why Internists Might Want Single-Payer Health Care
Authors: Paul Sorum
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2018)

Ideas and Opinions20 March 2018Why Internists Might Want Single-Payer Health CarePaul Sorum, MD, PhDPaul Sorum, MD, PhDAlbany Medical College, Albany, New York (P.S.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M17-2678 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Single-payer health care is back in the news thanks to the efforts of the president and Republicans to cripple if not kill the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Bernie Sanders' introduction of a new Medicare for All bill in the Senate. I aim to explain why internists in particular should consider working for a single-payer health care system.Physicians and their staff are experiencing increasingly high levels of dissatisfaction and burnout (1). Much of this burnout is caused by the administrative burdens (2) and other frustrations caused at least in part by our incoherent, inefficient, and inequitable multipayer ...References1. Shanafelt TD, Hasan O, Dyrbye LN, Sinsky C, Satele D, Sloan J, et al. Changes in burnout and satisfaction with work–life balance in physicians and the general US working population between 2011 and 2014. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015;90:1600-13. [PMID: 26653297] doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.08.023 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Erickson SM, Rockwern B, Koltov M, McLean RM; Medical Practice and Quality Committee of the American College of Physicians. Putting patients first by reducing administrative tasks in health care: a position paper of the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166:659-61. [PMID: 28346948]. doi:10.7326/M16-2697 LinkGoogle Scholar3. The Kaiser Family Foundation; Health Research & Educational Trust. 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. 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[PMID: 24330820] doi:10.1186/1472-6963-13-516 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Albany Medical College, Albany, New York (P.S.)Disclosures: The author has disclosed no conflicts of interest. The form can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M17-2678.Corresponding Author: Paul Sorum, MD, PhD, Albany Medical Center Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, 724 Watervliet-Shaker Road, Latham, NY 12110; e-mail, [email protected]edu.Author Contributions: Conception and design: P. Sorum.Analysis and interpretation of the data: P. Sorum.Drafting of the article: P. Sorum.Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: P. Sorum.Final approval of the article: P. Sorum.Collection and assembly of data: P. Sorum.This article was published at Annals.org on 13 February 2018. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoWhy Internists Might Want Single-Payer Health Care Paul Sorum Why Internists Might Want Single-Payer Health Care Brian Yablon Metrics Cited byImproving the prognosis of health care in the USAEnvisioning a Better U.S. Health Care System for All: Coverage and Cost of CareRyan Crowley, BSJ, Hilary Daniel, BS, Thomas G. Cooney, MD, and Lee S. Engel, MD, for the Health and Public Policy Committee of the American College of Physicians*Why Internists Might Want Single-Payer Health CareBrian Yablon, MD 20 March 2018Volume 168, Issue 6Page: 438-439KeywordsDrug pricesDrugsElectronic medical recordsHealth careHealth information technologyMedicareObservational studiesPatient Protection and Affordable Care ActPatientsPediatrics ePublished: 13 February 2018 Issue Published: 20 March 2018 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2018 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...