Independent doctors or a hospital network

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by loves2read

All doctors are in hospital networks—otherwise they couldn’t admit you as a patient

Just depends on if their practices are OWNED by hospital networks

That's just not accurate. Many docs. have no hospital admitting privileges.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by loves2read

All doctors are in hospital networks—otherwise they couldn’t admit you as a patient

Just depends on if their practices are OWNED by hospital networks

To admit a patient, they just have to be credentialed by the hospital. That's totally different than being part of the hospital's physician network.

[platon20]

A lot of doctors are opting out of hospital privileges because it's a real pain in the ass.

Admitting patients is fine, but in order for the "privilege" of admitting patients most hospitals require you to either work in the ER or take hospital calls from the ER all through the night, which sucks.

Hospitalists are now taking over the inpatient side of medicine.

[platon20]

Originally Posted by 20Hope20

I check doc's educational background and hospital affiliations and make sure i don't get off loaded to a non-physician provider.

This is becoming a huge problem.

When you get referred to a "specialist" you'd better call ahead and make sure the "specialist" is a real physician because in many cases it's an NP or PA.

NP/PA is fine for follow-up after initial diagnosis/management by an MD but no way should they be a first line consultation at a subspecialist office.

[urbancuriosity]

As I've looked at the websites of doctors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I've noticed that many offices have teams that include NPs and PAs. I do know that some states give more privileges to NPs than other states. Yet I am surprised to see as many NPs involved in care teams. I am not saying that's good or bad, but when I go to see a doctor, I want to see a doctor (at least at first).

[ChristieP]

There’s a huge physician shortage, and that’s why you’ll see NPs and PAs at many offices. They often do follow-ups on surgical cases, and handle issues when a doctor is on vacation or in surgery, etc. I have used a PA at my dermatologist for years, and I’ve never had an issue.

[platon20]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

There’s a huge physician shortage, and that’s why you’ll see NPs and PAs at many offices. They often do follow-ups on surgical cases, and handle issues when a doctor is on vacation or in surgery, etc. I have used a PA at my dermatologist for years, and I’ve never had an issue.

There's a shortage in rural areas, but there's definitely no shortage of doctors in DFW.

[platon20]

Originally Posted by urbancuriosity

As I've looked at the websites of doctors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I've noticed that many offices have teams that include NPs and PAs. I do know that some states give more privileges to NPs than other states. Yet I am surprised to see as many NPs involved in care teams. I am not saying that's good or bad, but when I go to see a doctor, I want to see a doctor (at least at first).

Texas has "rules" that limit NP usage, but they're written so weak as to be mostly a joke.

Basically an NP has to have a doc set up a "supervision" agreement, but it's a total joke so in reality we have NPs running their own clinics with zero doctor oversight while the NP pays some kind of "retainer" fee to an MD for the "supervision" agreement. But let's get real, there's almost zero supervision going on here.

That might be OK for a seasoned NP with 20+ years experience but not for a new NP grad from some shady online program that has a joke of a curriculum.

The NP programs used to be pretty good 20 years ago when there were only a few, but now there are so many of them, a lot of them have turned into de facto diploma mills.