After 73 years, Seattle OB/GYN Group will shut its doorways completely in December. Whereas tragic for our sufferers and heartbreaking for the docs who take care of them, our closure is symptomatic of a a lot bigger drawback in healthcare right now.
The lack of our clinic will have an effect on over 16,000 sufferers, which incorporates over 300 pregnant sufferers who will now battle to discover a new physician to ship their infants, simply weeks after their due date. Our apply’s closing is the results of the identical points affecting medical apply throughout our state and nation, making it more and more troublesome to seek out well timed and needed medical care.
Physician shortages have been predicted for years. A examine printed in 2021 by the Well being Sources and Companies Administration predicted that by 2030 there will probably be a scarcity of OB-GYNs (docs who ship infants) throughout the nation, with the West being hardest hit. The provision of those docs will lower by 7%, whereas the necessity for his or her providers will enhance by 4%. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this pattern. After the pandemic, many docs have determined to take early retirement because of burnout from caring for thus many sick sufferers mixed with poor reimbursements, irritating work environments and lengthy hours.
Subsidies for major care and ladies’s well being care particularly have lengthy been undervalued. If you’re a affected person on Medicaid or Medicare, it could be troublesome to seek out an workplace that may see you due to our insufficient reimbursement charges. Medicaid reimbursement charges in Washington are among the lowest within the nation. This particularly hurts impartial medical clinics that deal with pregnant sufferers as a result of half of all births in Washington are coated by Medicaid. A traditional vaginal beginning and follow-up care at present nets about $360 for the supplier in spite of everything of their overhead prices are coated. Reimbursement could also be even decrease for sufferers on Medicaid, whose numbers grew in the course of the pandemic.
Inside our apply, we additionally deal with sufferers who should not pregnant however on Medicare. Over the previous 20 years, Medicare reimbursement charges (adjusted for inflation) have decreased by 26%, whereas the price of working a apply has elevated by almost 50%. This drawback will probably be exacerbated by the looming cost cuts for Medicare docs anticipated in January.
Together with low reimbursement charges, there are different bills that make it troublesome (and in our case, unimaginable) to maintain the doorways open. Obstetricians and gynecologists have among the highest malpractice insurance coverage charges. Malpractice insurance coverage premiums are pushed up by grand jury awards, since Washington has no restrict on non-economic damages. Moreover, like different employers, our workers wages have been pushed up by inflation and the excessive price of dwelling within the Seattle space. As a non-public apply, we can not compete with the salaries provided by the bigger well being techniques in our space.
The closing of our OB-GYN group ought to function a warning that our medical system is ailing. Individuals have to contact their members of Congress to inform them that drugs is in bother. We should always not lower the Medicare doctor reimbursement, however as an alternative plan for annual inflationary will increase. Regionally, we have to urge state legislators to extend Medicaid charges for many who deal with sufferers, not simply hospitals, so extra docs and medical teams can afford to see these sufferers.
The docs at Seattle OB/GYN Group are heartbroken to see our legacy finish. We are able to solely hope that this serves as an indication that we have to make vital adjustments to our damaged system. All of us deserve high quality healthcare with docs we belief.
