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Self employment insurance Medicine Becomes Big Business As More Doctors Opt For Corporate Positions

2010 July 30
Posted by ashwin

Once, a physician unexpectedly exchanged the shingle from his prosperous medical clinic in California for a corporate door name plate. His practice, though thriving, was too boring to suit him. Talking and listening had become the extent of his job as a doctor. Pricey insurance for malpractice coverage gave his group practice no choice but to ditch a lot of the medicinal aspects he relished in, such as obstetrics, surgery and the complicated process of treating medical conditions. His practice had become nothing more than a required stop for patients to reach a specialist.

New positions such as those in companies that manufacture pharmaceuticals pay much more and don’t carry the risk factors that push malpractice insurance through the roof. He is among the increasing ranks of doctors who have transitioned into the corporate realm. Disillusioned with all of the government and insurance company interference in medical practice, and tired of the politics and the push for research grants, these doctors are moving to corporate medicine. There is even a city that wants to hire these doctors in hopes of improving employee health and safety. Most of these doctors still work in jobs connected to medicine, either in drug research or occupational health, but some have left medicine entirely for the business world.

Doctors can make salaries that exceed what is possible in a private practice. Physicians employed by corporate entities generally work 8-hour days, are provided with paid malpractice coverage, receive time off for educational purposes, and are compensated at levels that are comparable to those who remain in private practice.

The percentage of individuals practicing medicine full time in the United States corporate world is roughly 2 percent of the total population. In addition, thousands more physicians work in occupational medicine, meaning that they provide advice and guidance in the areas of employee wellness, industrial safety and product development. There are over 10,000 physicians filling these roles on a part-time basis. Other doctors are working in pharmaceuticals, while many thousands choose to work as underwriters and claims consultants for insurance companies.

Many corporate physicians find their way to becoming chief medical director for large insurance carriers. Once established in private practice, it is not uncommon for doctors to take other positions to bring in more money. One doctor opted for a position working part time for a restaurant chain. At that time, the physician was working at a rapid speed, inspecting upwards of 60 food handlers per hour. After that, he was named medical director for a pair of film studios, and grudgingly relinquished his private practice. He was attracted to the job because of the lack of restrictions on medical treatment often imposed by insurance companies or the patient’s ability to pay.

Corporate physicians in the past were viewed as those who had been unsuccessful in private practice. They were not considered “real” doctors, but just someone who handed out aspirin and band-aids. The fields of product safety and new employment laws have created avenues by which the doctor can attain a new respectability and effectiveness. The director of medicine at a large New York telecommunications firm states that achieving a new level of respect has been gratifying.

Doctors at earlier stages of their careers are able to be as successful or even more so than they might be otherwise. Older, established physicians might sacrifice their bottom line, but will do so for the chance to practice medicine again. Some corporate physicians say that they are getting the last laugh when it comes to job satisfaction, career earnings and quality of lifestyle. In the past, many of my colleagues believed occupational medicine to be a poor choice. In one doctor’s opinion, many of those who did not make the switch are now envious of those who did.

It seems that the corporate doctors who decided against practicing medicine altogether are the ones who made the most money. One example of this is of a doctor who never once practiced medicine, and is a multimillionaire at the age of 78. As a matter of fact, he made his first million dollars while still in medical school, because he saved his father’s drug company from collapse. After graduating medical school, he set up in the famine-stricken Ural Mountain region of the Soviet Union with the surplus army field hospital he had purchased. He discovered that food, not medicine, was most needed; in the process of importing grain, he established the trade contacts that became the stepping stones for his future business career.

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