A pretty dismal Future is being proposed - Health systems will be one-stop shops

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review has an interesting article about the future of medical care.

Health systems will be one-stop shops

By Richard GazarikTRIBUNE-REVIEWSunday, February 22, 2009

"In the next decade, patients may no longer be treated by their physicians at a private practice, says A. J. Harper, president of the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania.

Instead, their physicians could be employees of a health system.

"If we look at the next 10-plus years down the road, the new model we might see is hospitals and physicians under one health system, under one corporate umbrella," said Harper."

"Hospitals in southwestern Pennsylvania, Harper said, are trying are trying to protect their markets by scooping up physicians practices to insure a steady stream of patients and revenue. The prime target of takeovers are family and primary care practices.

"It's a trend, absolutely," Harper continued. "Not only here but nationally."

Hospitals are trying to create health systems based on the model of Kaiser Permanente, said CPA Michael J. Brocks, president of Michael J. Brocks & Associates of Sewickley, a firm which valuates practices for hospitals.

Kaiser Permanente combines a hospital, health plan and physician services in a one-stop shop for health care.

It's all about turf."

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It is really all about corporate greed and nothing more. It is all about limiting options for patients.

Predicted to be gone are the days of having a physician care for you and your family that actually knows who you are. Gone will be the days where you can trust that your interests will be first before a corporation when treated by an impersonal face that may or may not actually be a physician - if this is really what is going to happen. The Wal-Mart experience for health is predicted to happen.

As horrible as it sounds, just maybe people will stop the corporatization of every single profession and industry in this country when this experiment falls flat on it's face. Just maybe people will come to their senses and put a stop to it and restore stability to the medical care system in this country.

Kaiser left several states because of this type of business practice. It was a failure then and will be again. That system will only work in liberal states where much is condoned and few relevant regulations are enforced.

I would say - "I have a dream" - but then that has been used before.