Denton County Living Well Magazine Spring 2015 | Page 10

stressed about administrative hassles, but is now
constrained by hospital policy and bureaucracy.
Many doctors are forced to see substantially more
patients per day, decreasing the time spent in each
exam. This model inherently works against fostering a
solid doctor-patient relationship. “From the moment I
walked into OrthoTexas, I was treated like someone
who was shopping at a family owned business; I felt
like I was in control,” says Joe. “When Dr. Goodhart
came into the exam room, he wasn’t rushed. He spent
time with me and allowed me to tell him about
my concerns and ultimately my goals for the
appointment.” And how does hospital shift scheduling
affect the patient? It’s manifested as a drastic decrease
in the consistency of care. Patients are forced to either
see the doctor on call, or wait weeks, even months,
to see their chosen provider. In Joe’s case, he
was scheduled for surgery the day after his initial
consultation at OrthoTexas. “I couldn’t believe it. I
was able to meet Dr. Goodhart, get an in house x-ray,
and go in for surgery with my same doctor, in a
matter of two days. That’s incredible service,” says
Joe. This applies to specialized referrals as well.
Many independent practitioners will only refer their
patients to independent specialists, because the
referral process within hospitals is convoluted and
their patients experience lengthy wait times.

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In a June 2012 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s
Synthesis Project published a summarization of threedozen studies siting the effects of hospital mergers and
hospital acquisition of physician practices on prices,
costs, and quality of care. The report was written by
Martin Gaynor, PhD, of Carnegie Mellon University,
and Robert Town, PhD, of The Wharton School at
the University of Pennsylvania. In his findings he
established that hospital consolidation generally
resulted in higher prices across geographic markets.
When hospitals merge in already concentrated
markets, the price increase can often exceed 20
percent. Overall, he concluded that physician-hospital
consolidation has not led to either improved quality or
reduced costs.

Physician-hospital consolidation has not led
to either improved quality or reduced costs

Each time a patient chooses an independent physician
over a consolidated hospital group, we take one step
towards moving healthcare into a patient-centered
system. “I would really like to see people shy away from
the hospital groups and s \ܝ