The Obama administration has announced its plans to conduct a survey on American doctors in the near future. The survey will be the government’s attempt to confirm reports of the difficulties people have when trying to obtain health care.
Survey to Address Issues in Health Care
According to the Obama administration, the survey will use undercover contractors who will pose as patients, unknown to physicians at various medical facilities. Some of the goals of this survey include:
- Addressing the critical shortage of primary doctors, including experts in internal medicine and family practice.
- Finding out if doctors accept patients with private health insurance and turn away those with government coverage, as noted in a recent study.
Ultimately, the Department of Health and Human Services–which proposed the poll to the White House–says it wants to use the survey to ensure that more than 30 million Americans who will acquire coverage under health care reform will have access to primary care doctors.
Doctors Against Secret Surveyors
Doctors have expressed displeasure with the idea of the secret survey, stating that the approach connotes a Big Brother tactic. However, federal health officials have assured the doctors that the result of the survey would be confidential.
The government estimates that the survey will initially cost $347,370 and is likely to go up over time. Hopefully, however, the answers gained will pay for themselves if health officials are able to ensure more Americans have access to quality health care.
