
Experimental study shows physicians trade optimal patient care for money - gronkie
http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/physicians-care-about-patients-and-money/
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inuhj
The participants were medical students--not physicians. The title should
reflect that.

The gap in experience is significant. A 3rd/4th year medical student, like
myself, has had limited clinical exposure(think months) and is wholly
incapable of making decisions regarding patient care.

A student's lack of experience can explain why he/she might over investigate
healthy patients and under investigate sick ones--he/she can't tell the
difference. A physician, in comparison, has a protocol for how to work up a
patient's chief complaint far in advance of ever meeting the patient.

Most importantly, students have no concept of medico-legal consequences of
mismanagement. This is a huge incentive for physicians to work up all patients
the same way. Anyone can sue. Whenever anyone suggests adopting XYZ country's
medical system in place of our own I kindly point out that we would have to
retrofit their legal system as well.

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danielharan
1 - You don't need any medical knowledge to just pick the row with the highest
value in the last column

2 - Aren't those outcomes exactly what we see empirically?

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arohner
Doctors are human, and respond to economic incentives just like all other
humans. News at 11.

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_delirium
This is probably true with the current setup, but traditionally doctors had a
particular social position and professional mythology around them. I'm not
sure if it was ever really true that they _didn't_ respond to economic
incentives, but the perception (both external and among doctors themselves)
was that they had a sort of above-the-fray perspective where they were
supposed to use their learned judgment for the betterment of those under their
care, rather than engage primarily in business. Sort of the same thing
expected of priests, professors, sheriffs, etc.

~~~
VladRussian
>traditionally doctors had a particular social position and professional
mythology around them. ... >Sort of the same thing expected of priests,
professors, sheriffs, etc

yep. such posturing allows to keep price ("economic incentive") higher

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weeny
Oh boy. This has proved true to me - but from dental surgeons, not physicians.
I've gone through 3 dental surgeons who have opened up the gums above my
canine teeth, excavated, charged my insurance $1000's and me $100's [the costs
of successful operations], and then failed to fix the problem in my mouth. The
problem is an extra tooth growing out of the root of my canine tooth, usually
a simple extraction. But I'm convinced the dental surgeons are more interested
in letting the tooth grow, destroying the rest of my mouth, so they can later
put in more expensive dental implants. I'm highly fed up and am considering
becoming a medical tourist to get the offending tooth out of my skull.

~~~
windexh8er
You'll find this in any medical field. But, being married to a general
dentist, I know that it's very possible for you to find an oral surgeon via a
referral that will do as you ask (if it's not putting other teeth at risk).
It's generally accepted in their community (from what I've gathered) that if
there is a high probability to save a tooth they'll opt for that. Talk to
them, if you don't like what they have to say go somewhere you feel more
comfortable with the treatment plan.

