Monday, August 24, 2009

McAllen, Texas and the high cost of health care: newyorker.com

McAllen, Texas and the high cost of health care: newyorker.com

Shared via AddThis

This is an insightful commentary on the state of health care in the United States.

Dr Gawande's suggestions on how to cut costs certainly make sense. Problem is: how receptive would doctors be to improving quality instead of quantity (i.e. making less money).

I see parallels happening (or already happening) in the state of health care in Singapore. I wonder which direction our doctors will follow? Towards quantity where the money lies? Or towards quality?

3 comments:

rugs said...

which is why i believe health care does not lend itself to privatization. the mayo system is painfully reminiscent of the old MOH construct; doctors were mainly just supposed to do a good job and not have to worry about remuneration or the bottom line.

and rationing is not a four letter word - it makes good sense and any doc worth his salt needs to know how to do it.

and we need more family physicians who actually feel called to what they do.

aliendoc said...

thanks for visiting, rugs.

Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but perhaps a blend of good quality care mixed with decent remuneration. But this will require a GREAT shake up of what is currently in place! Not so sure how many takers there will be!

Ram said...

I still remember reading the SMA's survey done on average GP earnings some years ago.

I think they compared average monthly pay for GPS of 1993 and 2003 or something like that.
An amazing increment of $500 bucks over 10 years!

I'd not be surprised that more and more doctors would have to worry about bottom-lines and financial stability nowadays.....