Sensing the increasing urgency for his administration to do something — anything — with regard to some semblance of legislation before next month’s congressional recess, the president has vowed to speak on this issue (which he, himself, has said has been “talked to death“) practically daily until the final vote is cast. In the final days in the run-up to the vote, not only has there been considerable discord among Democrats on the issue of cost containment, public support (long considered well within Obama’s court of agreement) is starting to wither at a stark pace.

Pounding the pavement to (re)gain public approval on the matter only goes so far. Now, Obama must contend with the other party on healthcare policy’s frontline: the providers. Physicians, especially those in primary care, are doing everything they can to salvage practices / incomes, patients, quality of life, and their own sanity within. As the economy has affected coverage (and, by extension, access), so has the state of the primary care practice. Although the vast majority of phsyicians are employees of many a healthcare group nowadays; as a monolith, they still carry many of the same concerns over the loss of income and overhead as many small businesses do. And just like like the latter, leaders of the former group ar starting to emerge and share their concerns.

Dr. Gene Lindsey, president and chief executive of Atrius Health, an alliance of five nonprofit community-based physician groups in Eastern Massachusetts, said that doctors need a bigger role in health reform.

Lindsey said, “I believe that as a profession we need to increase our commitment to making it work …. I think we need to change the way we practice. I think we need to find new ways to engage with patients that are more convenient for them, that are less oriented around our needs and more oriented around their needs. I think that we actually need to be much more cognizant of the resources we use and the way in which we use them. I think we need to be more collaborative, both with our patients and with our colleagues..”

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