Page 12 - Layout 1

COVID-19
PANDEMIC

Medical and Business Ethics –

Are They Compatible?

By Rodolfo (Rudy) Molina, MD, MACR, FACP

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world to refocus its pri- substantial, especially for those physicians with a young family to
orities. Whereas the health of a country’s citizens has always been support and who may also have educational loans to repay. Atrius
important, so has its economic well-being. With what has been de- Health is a physician, self-owned organization and pledges to return
scribed as a draconian lockdown, our nations’ economic woes have the loss of payment.
skyrocketed, leaving millions unemployed. The medical community
has been no exception. The stay-at-home policy, coupled with the What about the strictly employed?
closure of many businesses that were deemed nonessential and with In an article from April 21, 2020 published by Becker’s Spine Re-
the restriction of elective surgeries, all that has had a substantial im- view, it states the Michigan-based McLaren Medical Group fur-
pact on our human psyche. The 24-7 media coverage of this pan- loughed around 500 providers, including orthopedic surgeons. The
demic both frightens and depresses people, and many are afraid to furloughs were announced April 15 and the group is considering
go to emergency rooms or their doctor’s office. Small and single keeping those physicians with lower work volumes laid off longer.
practices are seeing a dramatic fall in their revenue, which has resulted Hospitals are also reducing salaries. Alteon Health, which employs
in lower salaries for some employers as well as furloughs and layoffs. 1,700 emergency medical physicians, has cut paid time off, 401(k)
We, the medical providers, are hearing and seeing on a variety of matching, and discretionary bonuses. The New York Times reported
news media outlets a grateful public for our services, so, how is the that physicians across the country are being asked to take 20% to
business of medicine handling this pandemic? If self-employed, we 70 % pay cuts due to the pandemic. Fox News reported emergency
understand the sacrifices will be tied to a loss of revenue. How are room doctors in Los Angeles learned their pay would be reduced
larger organizations dealing with this dilemma and how are em- by 25%. A Texas urgent-care physician learned she would have a
ployed physicians being treated by their employers? 10% cut in salary and that her two-to-three-week paid time off
Atrius Health is a non-profit, self-owned corporation which has would be taken away.
5700 employees, 1000 of whom are physicians. Atrius is now asking The importance of the bottom line was not lost on Dr. Keith Corl,
its physicians to take a 20 % payment reduction. Atrius’ CEO, Dr. an emergency room physician in Rhode Island, when his privileges
Steven Strongwater, who in 2017 reported a $834,201 annual salary, were revoked in mid-March by a community hospital. He was in-
plans to reduce his salary by half this year. The average annual salary formed that he would not be allowed to see patients until he helped
of an Atrius physician is $187,000 per year and a 20% reduction is the billing department determine if he could boost revenue on the

12 San Antonio Medicine • June 2020