Dollars to doughnuts diagnosis

Los Angeles Times, April 16, 2008

In this opinion piece published in the Los Angeles Times, internist Albert Fuchs says the only way a doctor can do a good job and still make a living is to reject insurers. Fuchs says that most are awful at serving their patients, because even the best medical schools give short shrift to practice management. But, Fuchs notes, physicians are not entirely to blame. With insurance companies dictating how much doctors can charge for services as diverse as a routine checkup or an appendectomy, there is only one way for a doctor to increase income: increase volume, he says.