Who does your surgeon work for? Dr. Graham works for you.
Does your plastic surgeon have your interests foremost in mind? Does your surgeon work for another corporate entity? In the financial industry, you may know of the fiduciary level of responsibililty - the obligation to act in the person's best interest. We believe that physicians throughout the country strive to act in the best interests of each patient.
We advocate for our policy of independence from hospital executives and insurance administrators. We are independent. We are employed by our individual patients. We work directly for you.
This is not the norm in the United States in 2021. From a recent AMA publication:
"Only 30% of U.S. Physicians Practice Medicine Independently. The study shows that hospitals and other corporate entities continue to drive consolidation through practice acquisitions. Additionally, there was a "COVID-19 effect" as these trends accelerated in the last half of 2020. Quick summary of important findings include:
• Only 30 percent of physicians in the United States practiced medicine independently at the beginning of 2021.
• 29,800 additional physicians became employees of corporate entities – 11,300 of that growth occurred after the onset of COVID-19 (a 31% increase).
• Physician employment and practice acquisitions grew across all U.S. regions over the two-year period, with variations in the types and extent of growth.
• The South experienced the biggest increase in practice acquisitions by corporate entities with 59% growth."
Greenville has seen these changes over the last several years. Independent surgeons are very rare in Greenville. Most local surgeons are employed by either Prisma or Bon Secours/Mercy hospital companies. However, plastic surgery still has several independent physicians, at the present time. If you have questions, ask your surgeon or their staff.
