fewer and fewer practitioners. “Te problem is how to allocate enough time for your patients’ more complex emotional as well as physi- cal needs while struggling with a payment structure that rewards procedures, technical services and the sheer number of patients you can see. Cognitive services are the key to primary care, and cognitive services are not seen as worthy of compensa- tion by governmental and private insurers. I could see four sore throats in the time it takes to counsel a patient with a more complex prob- lem, like anxiety or substance abuse or marital discord. I could signifi- cantly increase my income in doing so. But if I feel like that one patient needs an hour of my time, then that’s what I’m going to give them. To me, medicine is more of an art than a trade; a calling, not a business. I’m grateful to have found my calling. I enjoy going to work each day. I’m blessed in that regard,” he said.
Dr. Feller thinks policymakers
don’t value the time it takes to care for the individual, rather than simply treating the disease. Primary care physician groups such as the American Academies of Family Practice, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics have been lobbying lawmakers in Washington for years to pay their physicians for the cognitive services they perform, without much success. As a result, fewer and fewer medical students are entering primary care residencies to rebuild the ranks of physicians who retire or leave medicine for another profession entirely. With more immediate concerns about higher income to repay medical school debt and lifestyle more conducive to family life, a higher percentage of medical school graduates are enter- ing the higher-paying specialties such as dermatology, radiology and anesthesiology. “My concern is that if 40 million
citizens are suddenly insured, who are they going to go to? Access to insurance is not the same as access to a doctor if there is a scarcity of primary care physicians,” Dr. Feller pointed out. Dr Mitch Feller’s advice to the medical school, college and even high school students he mentors is simple: “If you feel that primary care is your passion, and you seem to have an aptitude for it, follow your heart. Primary care is extremely rewarding. You learn something from every patient you encounter. You make a difference. And every day is unique. Just do your best, and you’ll end the day with no regrets.”
Dr. Feller has been in private practice in Mount Pleasant since 1982. He has participated in numerous research activities and made several profes- sional presentations and holds two U.S. patents for medical devices. He and his wife, Vanessa, live in Mount Pleasant.
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