FROM THE PRESIDENT by LEWIS HARGETT , MD
The Doctors ’ Lounge : It Has Changed Over the Years
4
The practice of medicine has seen many changes through the years . These changes have led to a direct impact on the concept of the doctors ’ lounge . In this article , I will discuss major factors that have contributed to the changes in the doctors ’ lounge .
The doctors ’ lounge was once considered an integral part of the hospital for physicians and now its significance has changed . There has been a decline in the status of the traditional doctors ’ lounge . It has been eliminated by many hospital systems , or it has been transformed to meet the new era of health care . In the past , the doctors ’ lounge was a gathering place for physicians . However , doctors ’ lounges are now a gathering place for all health professionals involved in direct patient care .
Throughout my career , the doctors ’ lounge has been important to me . It is often my first stop as I enter the hospital . It is a place for physicians to see colleagues , discuss medical cases , read the paper or medical journals , get a patient list , review medical records and have a meal break . In major hospitals , there was a medical library available to obtain information on various medical topics . A librarian or attendant was usually on duty to assist with research and reports if needed . The doctors ’ lounge was the one place in the hospital where physicians had a dedicated space to relax , take a break from our hectic day and to discuss the medical profession and patients ’ health concerns . Those were the good old days ! Gradually , there has been an erosion of services in the doctors ’ lounge . The transformation in the traditional doctors ’ lounge is due to the changing health care system .
The health care landscape continues to change . Health care in the U . S . has become a multi-trillion-dollar business . For-profit health care companies , corporations , the government ( state and national ) and the courts are having more input on how medicine is practiced . Hospital administrators have instituted cost cutting measures to increase profitability , often leading to repurposing or closing of the doctors ’ lounge . Physicians are increasingly becoming employed by hospital systems . As a result , many physicians practice in an outpatient setting and are not required to have hospital privileges . Primary care physicians are often not required to admit patients to the hospital due to the rapidly growing field of hospital medicine . While initially used in primary care , hospital medicine now includes specialty areas to include gastroenterology , obstetrics and gynecology , psychiatry , pediatrics , etc . There are more surgical procedures being done in an outpatient setting . These changes in the health care landscape continue to contribute to the transformation of the doctors ’ lounge .
Technology has also changed the way doctors ’ lounges are viewed as we are now in the digital age . Most are now paperless . Computers are the norm . Medical books , journals and papers have been replaced with internet search engines . Artificial Intelligence , including ChatGPT , has replaced the librarian with research and reports . As a result of this digitalization , there is less interaction among colleagues during their time in the doctors ’ lounge . Often , instead of socializing with colleagues during lunch , they are now using the computer or iPhone to check email , scroll the internet or work on reports .
Finally , the demographics of medicine have changed significantly . There are more women in medicine today with the trend increasing as more than half of most medical schools incoming classes are made up of women . Medicine has become more specialized . There are more minorities practicing today and more international graduates entering the health care system . Through the years , there has been a proliferation of mid-level providers ( nurse practitioners , physician assistants and nurse anesthetists ) who are working with physicians in the hospitals as well as in outpatient settings . Physicians are retiring and newly trained doctors are replacing them . As the younger physicians enter the health care system , their view of the doctors ’ lounge is different from the traditional . All these