Primary Care is Commodity

From Dr. Bushman -

I had an epiphany today about the role primary care plays in a person’s world… in a patient’s world… in a hospital’s world… in the healthcare system’s world.

Primary care, at its core, is a commodity.

And for years, I was treated like one — a tool for the system.

Hospitals saw me as their commodity — a generator of admissions, referrals, and revenue streams.

But that has shifted for me.

Now, my patients see me as their commodity.

Not a transaction. Not a cog. Their doctor.

It’s never clearer than during open enrollment season. People are staring at premiums that keep going up, deductibles they can’t afford, and copays they’re tired of paying.

They’re willing to give up a lot — the fancy network, the lower deductible, the silver-tier, gold-tier, whatever-tier coverage.

But you know what I keep hearing? “I’m not willing to give up my doctor.”

That’s the real commodity. That’s the relationship that can’t be replaced,

replicated, or reduced to a line item.