Things may get worse before they get better
Things may get worse before they get better
While the long-term future for emergency medicine is bright, ED managers and their staffs will see some tough times in the short term, predicts Thom Mayer, MD, FACEP, president and CEO of Best Practices, an emergency medicine, pediatric emergency medicine, and physician leadership management firm based in Fairfax, VA.
"There will be a period of four or five years of very difficult times for hospitals in general, with massive unemployment, and an increasing load of medically disenfranchised folks," he says. "But once that wave breaks, once hospitals get back into the black, we'll see an increase in freestanding EDs, where hospitals can get their presence in the midst of strategic segments of the community, i.e., paying patients."
"Over time, administrators will realize EDs are not loss leaders — even with tough economic times, we are still money makers," Mayer says. "We'll see more of a true focus on the economics of emergency medicine and fact that EDs do make money, and there will be a massive increase in the focus on flow."
While the long-term future for emergency medicine is bright, ED managers and their staffs will see some tough times in the short term, predicts Thom Mayer, MD, FACEP, president and CEO of Best Practices, an emergency medicine, pediatric emergency medicine, and physician leadership management firm based in Fairfax, VA.Subscribe Now for Access
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