What If We Treated Doctors The Way We Treat Teachers?

[proud2BlibKansan]

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It would not take a skilled social scientist to observe that, despite exceptional achievements in treating disease and diagnostic technologies, for example, the medical profession is failing. It has failed in its tasks to disseminate good information about health, quash misconceptions, fight corporations and health lobbies that keep people sick, and prevent high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, particularly in low-income populations. What do we do about this? Well, I have a few proposals listed in no particular order:

We must begin to hold all physicians accountable, regardless of specialization, to certain quantifiable measures of health, namely cholesterol levels, blood pressure, weight, and BMI. All patients assigned to a physician must meet specific annual minimum standards of health. Bad doctors will be those who do not meet their patients' annual minimums, and they may be subject to certain penalties if the health scores of their patients do not improve in a reasonable amount of time.

It will be mandatory for the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as all of the major governing bodies in medicine, to set a goal for reaching universal health and well-being in the United States. That is, a target year will be identified in which every person will achieve the ideal values in cholesterol, blood pressure, and BMI. Future targets may include assessments of mental health. A specific interval of time will also be determined to assess all patients for these values. Although pharmaceuticals may be used to stabilize or improve health outcomes, the patient must not be on any medications at the time of assessment unless approved by an official of the administrative body of the national health assessments.

Quantifiable variables will be utilized to evaluate all practices and hospitals. All of this information will be made public. Additionally, medical schools will be evaluated based on the quantifiable health of patients in the care of their graduates. Medical schools will subsequently be ranked based on the health outcomes of their graduates' patients regardless of specialty. Given more advanced statistical models, these numbers could ultimately be used to assess the impact of pre-medical programs at the undergraduate level.

more . . . http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/shaun-johnson/treating-doctors-like-teachers_b_812096.html

[Texasgal]

1. Doctors are not the problem. n/t

[knitter4democracy]

7. Neither are teachers.

We're merely part of the canary system in the coal mine.

[zazen]

2. I've said this in my doctoral seminars for a few years

and been met with yeah, dream on.

The teaching profession has long been gendered as female and thus subject to instruction, control and invasive critique. The most talented people move up or out. Who would put up with this crap otherwise?

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. People who like kids, that's who puts up with it.

Some of us don't want to walk away because we are devoted to doing what's best for our children. It has nothing to do with talent.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. I'm not a doctor, but there's no doubt that the medical profession has changed.

For starters, there's a gugleplex of medical information out there, daily there are new studies, and as a result we have need of countless specialists.

Also, everyone's body is similar, but not identical. The same treatment (a standard treatment) might do one person a great deal of good, while it might destroy another.

Further, diagnosis is complex. Diagnosis on the human body is not like a controlled experiment, in which the doctor holds the variables constant.

In addition to this, patients lie (it's a huge problem doctors face daily - the omission of information), forget to give important details of medical history, and/or are not compliant.

Insurance companies look at the bottom line, but not only with regard to patient/clients. They also trick physicians to avoid paying them. For example, they are held to a limited amount of time within which to make claims for payment. If they fail to submit claims within this window of time, they are denied payment. If the wrong code is provided, they are denied payment. Doctors have to hire all kinds of personnel at great cost in order to get paid by insurance companies. This is all part of the technique used by insurance companies to avoid paying doctors.

Insurance companies also charge doctors huge premiums for malpractice insurance, premiums far larger than they need to charge for the amounts that insurance are having to pay out.

Insurance companies are making out like bandits.

Medical students know all this and no longer wish to pursue being general practitioners and internists. We already have a shortage of GPs and internists.

It's hard to be a doctor nowadays.

We need a system of health care like that in England.

[knitter4democracy]

8. It wouldn't be all that difficult to substitute teachers in your post.

We have many of the same problems. It's an apt comparison.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

12. No doubt about it, except what's being done to teachers is far worse

Repukes have had an all-out war against teachers for decades now. I hate the bastards.

[athenasatanjesus]

5. We don't need to since the wealthy already get much better healthcare than the poor.

We need to treat teachers poorly,because for awhile it looked like Americas poor might have had a chance at a good education.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. And we have a winner, folks!

[Gabi Hayes]

9. excellent work, as usual. btw....mine's bigger:

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. LOL!!!

[saras]

11. What if we treated corporate executives the way we treat teachers?

Employees are regularly tested for intellectual and financial progress, and management is held responsible for guaranteeing both of these, regardless of the quality of the employee pool.

Their investments, pensions, medical programs, etc. are systematically gutted by stockholders, and refunded to customers.

Functional, competent, experienced managers are, at random, replaced with untrained amateurs volunteers, or with temp laborers who are paid a pittance, and hence are liable to cart off equipment and resources.

And resources are taken away from less-profitable businesses, while ignorant, condescending overseers are sent in to correct management's performance in front of their employees.