Question

Hospitals are facing unprecedented financial challenges from entrepreneurial physician initiatives that are establishing competitive, free-standing diagnostic and treatment centers and specialty hospitals. What are the advantages and disadvantages to these developments from a patient perspective?

Answer 1

Many physicians have turned to entrepreneurs and have started their own private clinics and healthcare centres in healthcare industry.

Increasing demand for medical services, financial crisis, job dissatisfaction and growing aspiration to become independent and strained relationships between manager and physicians have to entrepreneurial physician initiatives.

entrepreneurial physician initiatives has brought about many advantages and disadvantages for the patient.

Some of the advantages are as follows:

1. The patient can select the physician of his choice according to the health condition and the treatment required which is not the case in hospitals.

2. In private clinics set up by physicians, patient can discuss and tailor his treatment plan with the help of the physician.

3. The long waiting hours before getting the treatment at hospitals due to over crowding can be easily avoided at physician clinics.

Some disadvantages are:

1. Private clinics snd other settings are costlier than the general hospitals

2. Insurance claims can be difficult to be processed in such settings.

3. In order to earn more profit, physicians may hire less skilled and unexperienced staff which is available at low salary.