The Catch: Patience-Based Rationing

Doctors think the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) could make life harder for patients without doing much to improve their own professional lives.

Analysts at the Deloite Center for Health Care Solutions, Washington, an arm of Deloitte Development L.L.C., recently commissioned a survey of 501 doctors to gauge their views on PPACA.

Yesterday, I did another article based on the Deloitte survey suggesting that many doctors give the current U.S. health care system low grades.

It doesn’t look as if the doctors think PPACA will turn the U.S. health care system into an A student.

About 44% of the doctors surveyed said they think PPACA could encourage patients to live healthier lifestyles, and 38% said they think the law could enhance the balance between primary care and general medicine.

But the doctors were much more likely to say they expect negative results: 73% said they think PPACA will swamp primary care practices, and that overflow from the primary care practices into hospital emergency rooms will swamp the emergency rooms.

Another 68% said they expect to see longer emergency room wait times, and 50% said they expected to see decreased access to hospital are due to hospital closures.

Only 27% said they think PPACA will reduce health care costs by increasing the efficiency of doctors and hospitals, and just 16% said they think the law will make it easier to practice medicine.