Big drop to my survey income :(

[moneymaker100]

One opportunity is gone, another one will appear soon.

[herdjohnson]

I'm in private practice. Expenses steadily rise over time - utilities, insurance premiums, office maintenance, staff salaries, office supplies, medical supplies, etc. Everything gets steadily more expensive. The problem is that income doesn't rise to keep up with rising expenses. So the net income of the practice after all the bills are paid trends downward.

Add in personal expenses at home - utilities, insurance, food, clothing, etc. and the money that is coming home doesn't go as far as it used to either.

Again, I'm not crying poor by any means. We make a good living and have a comfortable lifestyle. I'm just saying that it is much harder to maintain that lifestyle than it used to be.

How is your income compared to what you'd get paid in your field by the hospital? The medical center I work for has a significant amount of physicians actually employed, I was always curious what they pay disparity is vs someone in private practice. I assume less, just without the added headache of all the things that go with running your own business.

[disneysteve]

How is your income compared to what you'd get paid in your field by the hospital? The medical center I work for has a significant amount of physicians actually employed, I was always curious what they pay disparity is vs someone in private practice. I assume less, just without the added headache of all the things that go with running your own business.

I honestly don't know how much the docs working for the local hospital systems earn. I suspect it is more but there are are also far more hassles and headaches going that route. There is a big difference when you are working for a big corporation and someone else is calling the shots. I would sacrifice a huge amount of freedom even though I'd probably earn more in the process.

We are trying our very best to hang on as independent physicians and not sell out but I don't know how much longer we can do that. It just sucks because I'm at an age where I really don't want to start all over again but I'm too young to retire. My partner is the same way as he's just a few years older than me. I don't know if the practice we have today will remain viable for another 12-15 years until we are ready to call it quits.

[herdjohnson]

I honestly don't know how much the docs working for the local hospital systems earn. I suspect it is more but there are are also far more hassles and headaches going that route. There is a big difference when you are working for a big corporation and someone else is calling the shots. I would sacrifice a huge amount of freedom even though I'd probably earn more in the process.

We are trying our very best to hang on as independent physicians and not sell out but I don't know how much longer we can do that. It just sucks because I'm at an age where I really don't want to start all over again but I'm too young to retire. My partner is the same way as he's just a few years older than me. I don't know if the practice we have today will remain viable for another 12-15 years until we are ready to call it quits.

Hey, at least congress finally permanently corrected the "doc fix". That would have been a bit worse than the survey loss

[disneysteve]

Hey, at least congress finally permanently corrected the "doc fix". That would have been a bit worse than the survey loss

True. The fact that it has even been an issue this long tells you a lot about the state of medicine in this country today.

[herdjohnson]

True. The fact that it has even been an issue this long tells you a lot about the state of medicine in this country today.

I think it has more to do with the state of politics in this country. Medicine is just a victim.

[Petunia 100]

First, I'm not an MD. I'm a DO.

I am 48 years old, and I had never heard the term "DO" until just now. So I Googled, visited the AOA website, and now I know that DOs exist.

[disneysteve]

I am 48 years old, and I had never heard the term "DO" until just now. So I Googled, visited the AOA website, and now I know that DOs exist.

Yay! Yes, we exist. In fact, about 85,000 of us exist in the US today. There are now 30 osteopathic medical schools. I think there were 15 when I went to school (class of 1990).

DOs tend to be in greatest concentration in areas near osteopathic schools, but as more and more schools have opened, the areas with significant numbers of DOs has expanded.

[herdjohnson]

Yay! Yes, we exist. In fact, about 85,000 of us exist in the US today. There are now 30 osteopathic medical schools. I think there were 15 when I went to school (class of 1990).

DOs tend to be in greatest concentration in areas near osteopathic schools, but as more and more schools have opened, the areas with significant numbers of DOs has expanded.

The city I work (Pikeville KY) has an osteopathic medical school. About 90% of our docs are DOs.