An article at 24/7 Wall Street makes the argument I’ve been putting forward in much greater detail:
The doctors who face severe financial shortfalls in their business fall into two groups. Just over 100,000 doctors are primary care physicians. Some will shutter their offices out of concern for doctor, staff and patient safety. Doctors who work in certain specialties, of which there are about 40, may be unable to treat patients at all. There are almost 20,000 ophthalmologists, 13,000 neurologists, 57,000 pediatricians and 7,000 plastic surgeons. Among these and several other specialties, office visits will drop to near zero as the number of sick and dead people multiplies.
Telemedicine has been suggested as one means to treat patients somewhat. However, the means to bill for these “visits†are ill-defined. And in some cases, the doctor needs to examine and see the patient physically. Areas under lockdown make this impossible. Doctors using telemedicine still need to pay office rents and insurance and sometimes staff members.
Some private doctors have volunteered to treat COVID-19 patients by volunteering at hospitals. Some hospitals require private doctors who have privileges to admit patients under normal circumstances to help their hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients onsite, but without pay. These doctors do not have time to see their own patients, even with the use of telemedicine.
I don’t know whether my circle of friends is typical or not but many of the physicians of my acquaintance aren’t great savers. I don’t know how long a “stay at home” directive they’ll be able to sustain.
