MARIETTA — Marietta anesthesiologist Dr. Mark Huffman sounded the alarm in a talk to state lawmakers this week, warning that independent physicians are under attack.
“We are being swallowed up by large national groups, we are being swallowed up by hospital systems, and it’s not good for patients, it’s not good for the state, it’s not good for anybody,” Huffman said.
Huffman said while his anesthesiologist group is aligned with WellStar Health System as well as it can be, “at this point, we’ve drawn the line.”
“We have to remain independent,” he said. “We have to remain independent from insurance trying to make a dollar. We have to remain independent from the hospitals trying to expand their income area, their geographical area.”
Huffman said with studies indicating that only a few hospital systems will be left in the next few decades, hospitals feel threatened.
He shared his thoughts with members of the Cobb Legislative Delegation at the YWCA of Northwest Georgia on Tuesday with Joann Thurston, executive director of the Cobb Medical Society, standing at his side.
“So you see large systems gathering in Atlanta,” Huffman said. “WellStar on the west side, Northside and then Piedmont. These hospital systems are trying to capture everything that they can.”
Huffman explained why he believes this is not good for patients, referencing WellStar and Piedmont’s union to form an insurance company.
via The Marietta Daily Journal – Independent physicians under attack says doctor.
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