Chester County Medicine Summer 2021 - 4

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P RESIDENT ' S MESS AGE
Summer
2021
BY DR. BRUCE A. COLLEY
PRESIDENT OF CHESTER COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
W
ith COVID, at least for the time being, behind us, I have had the opportunity to
discuss with my colleagues the many other topics relating to medical care in our
county. Most family physicians, including myself, during a typical week, speak
with at least a dozen of our fellow physicians, including specialists, primary care, and Nurse
Practitioners. I have distilled the many topics of discussion, concerns, and observations
shared with me, down to a few I would like to mention. I will admit up front that I have no
solutions. I believe that by sharing some of the many points of issue brought to me with my
fellow physicians and nurse practitioners it may stimulate discussion among us and lead to,
if not solutions, perhaps a few clear-headed strategies to address them.
First among these subjects of thought is the impending possible closure of Brandywine
Hospital, Jennersville Hospital and the Phoenixville Hospital owned by Tower Health. The
local medical community has already felt the loss of services offered by these hospitals and
we especially lament the loss of our physician colleagues who have already left the area. They
take with them their impeccable clinical skills, and decades of caring, dedicated medical
management of their patients. (Please read the Tower Health summary article by Kevin
McKeighan in this issue.) Suffice to say that the Chester County Medical Society will offer
whatever resources we can muster to prevent the closure of these hospitals. I urge all Chester
County physicians and citizens to contact their State and Federal Representatives and the
Chester County Commissioners to share your concerns and solutions with them.
D r. Bruce A. Colle y
To contact Dr. Colley
send email to:
bacolley828@gmail.com
An ubiquitous topic always on the list, is the overwhelming red tape and paperwork
physicians and their office staff are required to address by insurance companies just to
provide the most basic access for our patients to see specialists and to receive the laboratory,
radiological and pharmacy services needed for good medical care. The endless hours spent
by physicians and nurse practitioners and our staffs to " cross T's and dot I's " does nothing
but take away from the precious time needed to listen to our patients and treat them. This
wedge between the physician and patient is unconscionable. Yet, I see all my physician
colleagues soldier on. I am awed and humbled by your perseverance and dedication to your
patients.
Physician exhaustion is another reality. When I broach this topic virtually every
physician and nurse practitioner that I query admits that the daily clinical routine they face
is an endurance challenge. Attending to the health and wellbeing of our patients, working
long, long days and taking few vacations is tiring but fulfilling. This is what we signed up
to do, and few physicians would not opt, once again, to take that first step into our medical
school classroom, the decision that binds one to a lifetime commitment to heal. However,
literally spending half the hours of a day working through " red-tape " and using ill-designed
electronic medical record systems is exhausting and frustrating. A recent AMA poll found
that 6 of 10 physicians are thinking about retiring or changing professions due to the
overwhelming non-clinical paperwork and hideous EMR systems. That is over half of the
practicing physicians in the country, COVID has only made it worse, and it is a crisis. This
must change with our next generation of physicians or there will be no next generation of
healers. As noted, I offer no solutions. I do invite all physicians to join the Chester County
Medical Society and attend our meetings and join your fellow physicians at our (mostly)
monthly SCRUMS.
4 CHESTER COUNTY Medicine | SUMMER 2021

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Chester County Medicine Summer 2021

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