My own addition to the list you make of what needs to change is the creation of patient-doctor coops instead of health insurance companies as they are today. Patients must have a significant say in what is offered esp. in primary care, and how doctors are expected to behave toward us. Unless we have a system where doctors are responsible…
My own addition to the list you make of what needs to change is the creation of patient-doctor coops instead of health insurance companies as they are today. Patients must have a significant say in what is offered esp. in primary care, and how doctors are expected to behave toward us. Unless we have a system where doctors are responsible directly to us, the incentives will continue to harm us.
This incipient system, I have heard, existed in the US between the wars when fraternal organizations provided health insurance for a small monthly fee and access to doctors they hired on behalf of their members.
Doctors need to be incentivized/paid for studying and supporting health, nor for studying and treating disease. And indeed, if we had doc-pt coops, and doctors were paid by them, the incentive would be to keep members as healthy as possible, in order to lower patient load for the doctors, for the same amount of money paid them.
It's all about incentives. Thank you Toby, excellent stuff.
My own addition to the list you make of what needs to change is the creation of patient-doctor coops instead of health insurance companies as they are today. Patients must have a significant say in what is offered esp. in primary care, and how doctors are expected to behave toward us. Unless we have a system where doctors are responsible directly to us, the incentives will continue to harm us.
This incipient system, I have heard, existed in the US between the wars when fraternal organizations provided health insurance for a small monthly fee and access to doctors they hired on behalf of their members.
Doctors need to be incentivized/paid for studying and supporting health, nor for studying and treating disease. And indeed, if we had doc-pt coops, and doctors were paid by them, the incentive would be to keep members as healthy as possible, in order to lower patient load for the doctors, for the same amount of money paid them.
It's all about incentives. Thank you Toby, excellent stuff.
It was called "lodge practice" and apparently worked pretty well, but was driven out by pressure from the "professional" medical organizations. https://fee.org/articles/lodge-doctors-and-the-poor/
Fabulous article! Thank you.