The Solo Surgeon in the Modern Hospital

Abstract

Surgeons in the United States have been practicing solo or in small private practice groups since the beginning of the profession. Recent decades have brought about changes that threaten these practice models, however. Policy shifts, technological advancements, and challenging economic conditions have fostered dramatic transitions in the practice patterns of all physicians in the United States, and greater numbers of surgeons are choosing to leave private practice to become hospital-employed. Today, the traditional solo surgeon’s practice is especially threatened. This chapter addresses the major factors behind these transitions, evaluates some of the advantages and disadvantages of hospital employment vis-a-vis private practice, and assesses their overall effects on the sustainability of the solo surgeon’s practice model in the modern healthcare environment.