Physicians aren’t exactly queuing up to work with corporate hospitals. In fact, a whooping 63.6 per cent of them would rather work in a private set-up that allows them to use their skills completely.
This was stated in a survey released by Curofy, an online platform for doctors, which conducted a poll asking physicians where would they prefer to work.
“Even though working in a corporate hospital set-up gives one economic security and stability, a large number of doctors would prefer private practice,” the survey stated.
The reason attributed to this could be the fact that corporate hospitals judge doctors on parameters completely independent of their skills.
“Hospitals look for patient satisfaction and their feedback is a metric in itself. With the aim of providing patient satisfaction, giving handsome salaries to doctors and generating revenue — corporate hospitals have been frequently accused of turning medicine into a business,” noted the survey.
Doctors who participated in the survey said that in contrast, a private practice gives the doctor independence as well as control of his/her working hours.
This independence allows physicians to determine their own courses of action regarding the hiring of staff and development of a successful practice. On the flipside, if anything goes wrong, the buck stops with them.
“Their is better accessibility to patients in the case of private practice. It’s a lot more comfortable for doctors even though there is less infrastructure in a private practice than in corporate hospitals,” said Krishnakant Pandey, Medical Officer, North MCD.
The survey also asked questions on the life of doctors and their priorities. Of the 1,820 doctors who responded, 60.4 per cent said they put their patients’ interests over everything else.
“Being a maxillofacial surgeon, I mostly deal with smiles,” said Gagan Sabharwal, a consultant with Fortis Healthcare.
Only 26.3 per cent doctors said they would choose their family over patients.
