I enjoyed reading “The Butchering Art” immensely. But the challenge then and now is to get folks to agree on how to move forward. Politics have always muddied the waters.
Be the change we wish to become. Until far far more physicians embrace the ineluctable linkage between a multiple payer system predicated by employment, or retirement, there will be no progress. Physicians have to be the catalyst, but far too many of our colleagues, whether It’s ten or forty cent, went into medicine to ‘make money’ and this is what we have wrought. How else to explain the great majority of physicians vote for republican low tax and free market solutions to everything, including health care (I’m confident they would defund public eduction and social security if they could). There will be a revolution in how we finance health care; it can't go on this way forever. But physicians are now mired in battles over credentialing and distracted, and too many of us -yes I’m talking about you proceduralists, are still making huge money and on the golf course 2 days a week. However, no,politician goes blameless in this disaster. The trial lawyers will oppose any move toward public financing of health care-where will the deep pockets be to sue once we have no fault government health insurance? A good place to start is simply extend medicaid to all children under the age of 18. Talk about low hanging fruit…What a moral and public health victory that would be , at very minimal cost. But it is the camel inside the tent isn’t it?
I recently approached my manager with concerns regarding the role of charge nurse, which has become over-burdened with paperwork and fragmented by unnecessary interruptions from administrators reminding us things we already know via messaging. Said manager claimed helplessness in the face of the bohemoth bureaucracy stating something to the effect of, "I sympathize but that's just the way it is." Not coincidentally the people who are promoted in the organization are universally pleasant and compliant. No initiative or bold ideas to be found. Even asking the question, "How can we do this better?" is apparently too threatening. Good grief. I told him to please remove me from the role of charge nurse.
Part of the problem is that litigious lawyers have ruined honest doctoring proctices. But, there is, in addition to the "Health" (LOL!) Insurance profit over patient modus operandi, another problem.
About 23 years ago, I learned that IBM had come up with some advanced medical diagnostic software running in one of their super computers ("Big Blue"). It worked quite well, consistently beating doctors to the best diagnosis and proper treatment, including safe, health restoring medication prescriptions. That was LONG before so-called "Artificial Intelligence", but it worked just fine. I'm sure that it wasn't just the lawyers that loudly voiced concerns about this advance in technology due to liability issues involved with software deciding how to treat a patient, especially if the patient died as a result of said treatment.
Computers and software kept getting faster and cheaper since then, didn't they? Even that old IBM software, if installed over a few years (e.g. 2000-2002) in a million or so computers in medical facilites in the USA, could have been used to greatly reduce the cost of medical care through increases in efffciency. Yet, "apparantly" nothing came of it.
After that, computer prices kept going down, but medical costs just kept going up FAR faster than inflation.
I wonder why that happened, not that AMA defense of MD privilege, prosperity and prescription power would have anything to do with that...
You doctors need to look at lawyers and "Health" (LOL!) Insurance Corporation 'greed is good' practices in order to solve this red tape mayhem you have been saddled with. Don't forget to also look in the mirror.
I enjoyed reading “The Butchering Art” immensely. But the challenge then and now is to get folks to agree on how to move forward. Politics have always muddied the waters.
Be the change we wish to become. Until far far more physicians embrace the ineluctable linkage between a multiple payer system predicated by employment, or retirement, there will be no progress. Physicians have to be the catalyst, but far too many of our colleagues, whether It’s ten or forty cent, went into medicine to ‘make money’ and this is what we have wrought. How else to explain the great majority of physicians vote for republican low tax and free market solutions to everything, including health care (I’m confident they would defund public eduction and social security if they could). There will be a revolution in how we finance health care; it can't go on this way forever. But physicians are now mired in battles over credentialing and distracted, and too many of us -yes I’m talking about you proceduralists, are still making huge money and on the golf course 2 days a week. However, no,politician goes blameless in this disaster. The trial lawyers will oppose any move toward public financing of health care-where will the deep pockets be to sue once we have no fault government health insurance? A good place to start is simply extend medicaid to all children under the age of 18. Talk about low hanging fruit…What a moral and public health victory that would be , at very minimal cost. But it is the camel inside the tent isn’t it?
Well said. Thank you for saying it.
My comment was not as polite, but I pointed at the same problems you address.
I recently approached my manager with concerns regarding the role of charge nurse, which has become over-burdened with paperwork and fragmented by unnecessary interruptions from administrators reminding us things we already know via messaging. Said manager claimed helplessness in the face of the bohemoth bureaucracy stating something to the effect of, "I sympathize but that's just the way it is." Not coincidentally the people who are promoted in the organization are universally pleasant and compliant. No initiative or bold ideas to be found. Even asking the question, "How can we do this better?" is apparently too threatening. Good grief. I told him to please remove me from the role of charge nurse.
Part of the problem is that litigious lawyers have ruined honest doctoring proctices. But, there is, in addition to the "Health" (LOL!) Insurance profit over patient modus operandi, another problem.
About 23 years ago, I learned that IBM had come up with some advanced medical diagnostic software running in one of their super computers ("Big Blue"). It worked quite well, consistently beating doctors to the best diagnosis and proper treatment, including safe, health restoring medication prescriptions. That was LONG before so-called "Artificial Intelligence", but it worked just fine. I'm sure that it wasn't just the lawyers that loudly voiced concerns about this advance in technology due to liability issues involved with software deciding how to treat a patient, especially if the patient died as a result of said treatment.
Computers and software kept getting faster and cheaper since then, didn't they? Even that old IBM software, if installed over a few years (e.g. 2000-2002) in a million or so computers in medical facilites in the USA, could have been used to greatly reduce the cost of medical care through increases in efffciency. Yet, "apparantly" nothing came of it.
After that, computer prices kept going down, but medical costs just kept going up FAR faster than inflation.
I wonder why that happened, not that AMA defense of MD privilege, prosperity and prescription power would have anything to do with that...
You doctors need to look at lawyers and "Health" (LOL!) Insurance Corporation 'greed is good' practices in order to solve this red tape mayhem you have been saddled with. Don't forget to also look in the mirror.