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TeamHealth is a Family

2009; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 31; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/01.eem.0000360581.72407.6d

1552-3624

Scott McFarland,

Primary Care and Health Outcomes

Editor: The recent viewpoint by Robert McNamara, MD, on the evils of corporate emergency medicine reminded me so much of my teenagers' give-me-privacy-or-give-me-death speeches. (“Heroes or Traitors?” EMN 2009;31[4]:6.) I couldn't help laughing. They rebel at the organization, structure, and rules that bind our family together, yet we remain a family. TeamHealth is a family. Dr. McNamara and others paint TeamHealth as the ogre of emergency medicine, enormously greedy. That purported villain has provided a livelihood for thousands of emergency physicians and their families for more than three decades. I have been fortunate enough to work for them for 25 years. They have supported me through turbulent personal times and joyous celebration, but they never told me how to practice medicine. I want to be a doctor, not a businessman; the relationship is perfect for me. We just held an operations meeting in Nashville. Present were 200 of my best friends from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco to New York. No one there felt like an indentured servant. No one complained about wages. Our issue was not money, but how to make the emergency medicine experience better, safer, and faster for our patients and our physicians. How many private groups take the time and expense to educate and drill down on such best practices? If you do, God bless you. Education is the hallmark of TeamHealth and the cornerstone of medicine. TeamHealth is my family so I take offense when our image and integrity are besmirched. We don't write redundant rhetoric criticizing or discouraging others from the private practice of emergency medicine. It's a free, capitalist country, and we believe as you do in free enterprise. We employ more than 3,000 physicians. Every five seconds, an emergency patient is seen by a TeamHealth physician. We promote quality, and focus on one primary business: the individual interface between patient and physician. Our purpose is to make that encounter more efficient, effective, and enjoyable for everyone involved. We believe that integrity and honor are still noble goals to pursue and the best way to do business. Sometimes the kids just don't see the big picture. Our family is here and successful because the parents (TeamHealth) work hard to make it the best. My children ultimately find comfort in a Mom and Dad who care for them. There is comfort in a corporation that cares for me. Scott McFarland, MD Palm Beach Gardens, FL So Many Letters, So Little Space We receive more letters each month than our pages can hold so rather than publish only a few, we've posted many on our web site. To read them, go to EMNow for September on EM-News.com, and click on Letters to the Editor.