I recently completed an interview with an older physician who is a partner in an 8 physician single specialty group as part of a larger study of physicians in this specialty.

He was older. Yes, the Zoom technology was a bit challenging for him and he couldn’t get the microphone on his computer to work for the call. So we went old school and did the interview via telephone while I took notes furiously as he spoke. 

I was struck by his attention to detail, his care for his patients, and the fact that, to get the newest and best therapy for his patients. He was more willing to deal with insurance companies and their access restrictions to get his patients the newest and best product. More than any other physician interviewed for this study.

The result:

• His partners are trying to force him out of the partnership because he spends too much time per patient which impacts the practice’s revenue.

• His partners no longer allow him to see new patients, unless they’re family members of patients already under his care.

• He is criticized for ordering or performing secondary diagnostic tests to confirm a diagnosis, preferring, instead, that he would prescribe a therapy based on the initial test results.

The physician was very candid about what’s happening. He’s very aware and sensitive to the issues his partners have, but “taking care of people is why I became a doctor and doing right by my patients allows me to sleep comfortably and look patients in the eye when I speak with them or see them on the street.”

I have written several times about the growing importance of time and money impacting the practice of medicine. It’s a hard reality. Insurers know their restrictions slow down new product uptake because appealing or filling out prior authorization forms take time that most physicians don’t want to invest, unless it’s a life saving therapy or they’re getting tremendous patient or parental pressure. 

Life science companies need to get used to the fact that, increasingly, the physician’s trade-off between speed and ease of prescribing vs best in class therapy selection continues to shift towards fast and easy.