Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

I dream of practicing free medicine

Stewart Segal, MD
Physician
November 3, 2013
Share
Tweet
Share

When I grow up, I want to practice “free medicine.”  You may be asking yourself, “What is free medicine?  Does he mean he wants to run a free clinic or give out free pills?”

Free medicine (FM) is a concept I just created in response to a comment from a reader on a recent blog post.  My reader is a brilliant doc, educator and writer who serves both as mentor and colleague.

Dr. M’s comment pointed out the fact that primary care docs are already a medical bargain.  While the world clamors over the ever rising cost of medical care, Dr. M reminded me that the cost of seeing a primary care doc is minuscule in comparison to the cost of chemotherapy, surgery or going to the emergency room.

FM is an old idea whose time has come.  FM means being able to practice medicine as it was meant to be practiced, unencumbered by governmental and insurer rules and regulations.  Yes, I dream of being able to provide the individualized care my patients both need and deserve without artificial constraints, prior authorizations, codes, etc.

FM means the ability to shelter my patients’ most private problems from the intrusion of modern day medicine’s fixation on sharing virtually everything with insurers, government workers and statisticians.  While their intent may be laudable, the information amassed in the “cloud” may be used to destroy the very health we are pledged to preserve (witness the anxiety and depression of those whose data was recently stolen from a large hospital chain).

FM opens a physician’s mind, allowing him/her to be creative in coming up with difficult to make diagnoses and treatment plans.  “Best practices” close the physicians mind, stressing compliance with established protocols.  Heed my warning: cookbook medicine, better known as evidenced based medicine, has infested my profession and stolen our freedom to think and act as highly educated professionals.

FM means being a doctor, not a provider, gatekeeper or service technician.  FM means working for you, my patient, not corporate America.  Yes, I dream of being free.  I also have nightmares.  In my nightmare, I am being sucked into a huge vortex, falling uncontrollably into the world of ACO bondage.  Finally, it’s there: the door to freedom opens.

What is cost of freedom?  What’s it worth to you?  Will you be sucked into a world where your healthcare is provided in accordance with protocols created by insurers and Medicare or will you break free?  Will I survive long enough to find my door to freedom?

My door to freedom lies in cutting the tether that binds me to the accursed computer and its EMR.  Breaking off from Medicare and insurers and starting a fee for service/cash only practice of medicine is freedom.  Once again, proudly hanging out my shingle and opening my door to all that would want to come in, all that cherish their freedom, is freedom.

Primary care accounts for a small amount of the cost of medicine in this country.  If we were free from filing insurance and Medicare claims and free from coding and accumulating meaningless reams of data, we primary care docs could  reduce our fees and do what we love best:  care for you, the patient, who places your life in our hands.

Yes, I dream of the day I am part of the free medicine movement.  The question is, will you join me?  I can’t do it unless you think freedom is worth paying for.  I cannot exit the vortex and leave all those souls I am currently responsible for to be sucked into the depths of illness without me.  I am truly torn. Captains are supposed to go down with their ship, aren’t they?

Stewart Segal is a family physician who blogs at Livewellthy.org.

Prev

3 simple ways to improve our patient relationships

November 3, 2013 Kevin 4
…
Next

Knowing who your PCP is in the medical home

November 3, 2013 Kevin 30
…

ADVERTISEMENT

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
3 simple ways to improve our patient relationships
Next Post >
Knowing who your PCP is in the medical home

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Stewart Segal, MD

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    I have a problem and my problem is me

    Stewart Segal, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Click, click, click: How can I help you today?

    Stewart Segal, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Our medical system needs more positive stories

    Stewart Segal, MD

More in Physician

  • Why working in Hawai’i health care isn’t all paradise

    Clayton Foster, MD
  • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • Why compassion—not credentials—defines great doctors

    Dr. Saad S. Alshohaib
  • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

    Maureen Gibbons, MD
  • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

    Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Who will train the next generation of primary care clinicians without physician mentorship? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • The CDC’s restructuring: Where is the voice of health care in the room?

      Tarek Khrisat, MD | Policy
    • Choosing between care and country: a dual citizen’s Independence Day reflection

      Kathleen Muldoon, PhD | Policy
    • What Elon Musk and Diddy reveal about the price of power

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Conditions
    • 3 tips for using AI medical scribes to save time charting

      Erica Dorn, FNP | Tech

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 6 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Who will train the next generation of primary care clinicians without physician mentorship? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
    • The CDC’s restructuring: Where is the voice of health care in the room?

      Tarek Khrisat, MD | Policy
    • Choosing between care and country: a dual citizen’s Independence Day reflection

      Kathleen Muldoon, PhD | Policy
    • What Elon Musk and Diddy reveal about the price of power

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Conditions
    • 3 tips for using AI medical scribes to save time charting

      Erica Dorn, FNP | Tech

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

I dream of practicing free medicine
6 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...