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Stupid Americans Trust Doctors
New York, 2:54 AM
Wed Dec 9
45 posts in the last 24 hours
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06/17/09
So even if Peter Orszag thinks that we can solve the healthcare crisis (and, therefore, save the economy) by having federally-mandated, objective healthcare standards and metrics that aim for quality healthcare rather than quantity, we're more or less fucked. Cause the incentive to do so is ridiculously low. We're cultured to think, especially in terms of healthcare, more is better, when, in fact, more procedures/ tests/etc increase your risks.
Anyway, it was a good article. It ultimately made me wish for some kind of crossover, Mike Wallace 60 Minutes gotcha piece where he interviews doctors that would have to defend ordering eleventy tests: [www.newyorker.com]
06/17/09
The most expensive piece of medical equipment, as the saying goes, is a doctor's pen. And, as a rule, hospital executives don't own the pen caps. Doctors do.
Yup, there's a reason why the people in the know call them con-slut-tations instead of consultations.
06/17/09
As long as people who feel entitled to make 7-figure salaries for working part-time at best fill our medical schools...well, let's just say they will continue to be ousted by the foreign-trained M.D.'s that come from elsewhere in the world and are willing to do the dirty work.
About 15 years ago there was a movement by one of the medical profession organizations to put a moratorium on foreign-trained doctors being allowed in to practice. It was a miserable failure, because just like scrubbing toilets is delegated to Mexican immigrants, there weren't enough American docs who wanted to work in inner city ERs or in outlying areas for poor and indigent patients (who, BTW, are the ones who need care the most), etc.
06/17/09
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06/17/09
I will also tell you that a physician sitting in their office, reading a magazine, waiting for a nurse to finish prepping a patient for a procedure is a far cry from working 24/7. No doctor is on call 24/7 it is against professional guidelines. Furthermore, when they are on-call they are rewarded generously (grossly in reasonable opinion) whether they see a single patient or not. Find another job description ANYWHERE for which the rewards are even remotely the same.
06/17/09
He may have billed 5 figures, but that doesn't mean he gets 5 figures. He gets the amount that the insurance company pays out. Then he pays his nurses, receptionists, malpractice insurance, rent, equipment fees, etc... and doesn't really have a whole lot left. If he is charging for surgery, he also has to pay hospital fees, an anesthesiologist (sp?), as well as a number of other costs.
Furthermore, people with standard insurance are getting billed 5 figures to cover the cost of the medicare patients who basically get healthcare for free because of govt determined pricing.
Please remember that what is billed is not what the doctor earns.
Also, if you don't want to pay the doctor that much, why don't you find another doctor? If the fee really is 100% profit for the doctor like you say, I am sure there are a number of physicians who would be willing to take less profit for higher volume... maybe you should visit them instead?
06/17/09
Oh, and this? Sounds like an entitled snot, like, you know, the child of a doctor, or something.
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06/17/09