|
Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT New Docs Editor
Joined Mountain View
Medical & Surgical Associates
of Madras, Oregon July 2008
|
|
How Has The Economy
Affected You?
As we're all well aware, the U.S. economy has been performing terribly, with most indicators forecasting a pessimistic near future and uncertain long term future. Daily it seems we hear about more job losses, bank woes, and manufacturing decreases. My old boss in Michigan used to say doctors were relatively protected from these economic downturns due to the chronic need for medical care. This may be true to a certain extent, especially with those “bread and butter” retired Medicare patients who are less directly affected by economy (for now at least). |
 |
However, I wonder if medicine is truly immune to the ravages of the economy. In my rural location, for example, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of charity cases at the hospital. The ER has become progressively busier treating the unemployed and uninsured. I applaud my hospital for continuing to provide high quality patient care in spite of patients’ inability to pay, but how long can this continue before the hospital itself becomes a charity case? In fact, the largest multi-hospital system in the nearby towns is running in the red and has begun laying off direct patient providers (such as nurses). To me, this is a terrible sign of the times.
How has the economic downturn affected this new doc? To be honest, not very much yet. I think this is true for a few reasons. First, on a personal level I’m salaried, which has provided consistent income. Second, I'm still in the practice building stages, and my volume has been less from the outset than I'd like. The practice growth trend for me has been slowly positive since starting in Oregon, so my daily volumes have not seen any decline as of yet. Third, my rural town has suffered from a declining economy before the rest of the United States, so the downturned economy has already been present for some time.
On a personal level I have been taking steps to protect my family from potential personal economic disaster. I have enough savings to cover expenses for 6 months in the event of job loss. We penny pinch as much as possible, spending little discretionary income. I currently rent a house instead of mortgaging, which provides flexibility to change locations in the event of disaster. My wife and I often observe that we were lucky we hadn't bought a house in Michigan or we would currently be stuck with two house payments. We've also used this time to review our finances and spending habits to examine where we can save money.
So how is the current economic climate affecting your practice of podiatry? What changes have you instituted to insulate yourself from the economic recession? Let's put some statistics to our situation with a short survey. Fill this out and we'll have the results next week. Best wishes!
Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT New Docs Editor
[email protected]
|
