Are unions superfluous?
That view is shared by the medical director at a leading HMO. “Physicians are essentially unionized now,” says Gary Feldbau, M.D., Tacoma, Wash.-based regional medical director of the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. Doctors employed by staff-model HMOs, for example, work within physician-managed groups that decide such things as salaries, benefits plans, work load and productivity all issues that would otherwise be handled by a traditional labor union, he asserts. Community-based physicians who belong to any of varied management groups such as independent practice associations or physician-hospital organizations have similar control, Feldbau says. “About the only thing missing is the title AFL-CIO.” Another factor impedes the growth of doctor unions: Physicians harbor a negative perception of strikes. “We’ve seen nurses go out on strike and leave patients stranded. That’s the opposite of what we’re about,” says Feldbau. There may be other reasons working against physician labo
