The Future of Physician Jobs in this Economy
With all the sectors taking a hit, what is happening to physician jobs? Let us try to delve deeper to find the answer.
Healthcare is a resilient sector when it comes to an economic crisis. There are several reasons for it.
1) Healthcare is needed no matter what the economy is. (A very common argument!)
2) The government is a major customer of Healthcare and always retains a spending ability. The government purchases healthcare services through their Medicare and Medicaid Programs
3) The business of healthcare is not as leveraged like finance or construction or manufacturing. That means that we docs do not take too much loans, way beyond our capacity.
4) Banks continue to finance the medical practices due to the stable nature of the business.
Therefore the health care jobs did not go down with the economy. They actually went up by 3%. Yes! The Healthcare jobs were added in this economy.
Now lets talk about Physician Jobs. I do know of some of my friends having trouble finding physician jobs. I do know of hospitals putting hiring freeze on physicians. MGMA does not seem to have commented specifically on physician job data.
I believe that since the physicians are the most expensive piece of personnel in a medical practice or hospital there is some reluctance in hiring them, not knowing what the future holds.
As people lose jobs and their medical insurances, the commercial payers for a medical practice will decrease and cause a dent in the revenue. The workload of indigent care clinic is already increasing. If the recession last too long, then the medical community will definitely be affected.
4 Responses to “The Future of Physician Jobs in this Economy”
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Well written article.
Ive got nothing to say exept for…
Nice Job! Very Well Written!
Most physicians are not ‘hired’ by anyone, so this just because hospital hiring is down doesn’t really reflect the overall picture for physicians.
There has always been and there will always be a shortage of physicians. The need cycles specialty to specialty. If you are a physician and you are having a tough time finding a job today, it may be a couple of years and the tables will turn.