It is no secret that the practice of medicine is under attack, a national debate for years has spawned cost controls and a presidential initiative culminating in the Affordable Care Act. In case you missed it, or for future reference, here is the complete law, all 906 pages (381,517 words) as printed by the Government Printing Office. With an additional reported 11,000 pages of regulations or or 11,588,500 words. Oh, and there was a Supreme Court case about the validity of the Act that you might want to read, someday.
Okay, so physicians have gotten the message, cut costs, if possible. In an article The Team Can See You Now by Laura Landro, a description is provided of the concept and implementation of a team. The team basically divides up what used to be considered a doctor patient visit among a variety of non physicians reserving an actual visit with the doctor. Here is one telling quote, “Winning over patients to team based care can be a challenge. A 2012 survey of more than a 1000 low income people in California by the Blue Shield of California Foundation found that a majority preferred to be seen by doctors.” Imagine what those that are not low income would prefer?
And that is why dentistry will always trump medicine. Dentists and dental specialists see their patients, provide care to their patients and are usually available to discuss care with their patients. In my view, in dentistry the special aspect of the team is to support the doctor patient relationship not change, constrain or undermine it.