Hospitals, health systems and ASCs are facing devastating physician and nurse shortages, and many leaders feel policy makers' solutions are insufficient.
Marsha Haley, MD, clinical assistant professor of radiation oncology at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, recently joined Becker's to discuss physician pay and healthcare trends.
Editor's note: These responses were edited lightly for brevity and clarity.
Question: What healthcare trends are you wary of in 2023?
Dr. Marsha Haley: The physician and bedside nursing shortages have worsened since the pandemic. Some politicians use "quick fixes" for these issues instead of investing in long-term solutions such as increasing residency positions and investing in quality nursing education and nurse retention. One trend over the past several years has been to increase the scope of practice for non-physicians, resulting in the replacement of physicians.
Q: How satisfied with your income are you currently? What changes do you hope to see related to your income?
MH: My colleagues and I in radiation oncology provide a necessary and valuable service for cancer patients. Despite our treatments being extremely cost-effective, Medicare reimbursement rates for radiation oncology have been cut more than 20 percent over the last decade. This makes it more difficult for freestanding radiation oncology clinics to stay open and results in consolidation into large health systems. Not only does this make it harder on patients who must travel farther for treatment, but as the operating margins for hospitals diminish, it becomes harder to pay staff such as myself a competitive wage.