A Return to Capitol Hill
A Members' Benefit Piece in the April 2023 Issue of Chicago Medicine Magazine
After meeting with congressional leaders in Washington D.C. in February, Chicago Medical Society physicians came away energized and hopeful that there will be some movement by year’s end, to address physician workforce issues.
The term encompasses physician shortages, administrative burden, burnout, and the financial and economic forces impinging on practice. While already present, these forces worsened significantly during the pandemic. In making physician workforce its topmost priority, CMS leaders carried the experiences of Chicago-area physicians directly to a wide array of elected officials during their visits, both Feb. 7-8, and then Feb. 13-15.
In recent years, workforce shortages and work- place conditions have become too dire to ignore. Senate HELP Committee hearings, held only days after the CMS team departed Washington, revealed that members of both parties agree that prompt action is necessary. Some say that efforts to ameliorate healthcare worker shortages are one of the few areas where there is room for bipartisan solutions, even in a deeply divided Congress preparing for a presidential election cycle.
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