Yet another example of bad socialized medicine.
By andy77e
@andy77e (5156)
United States
March 15, 2013 11:17am CST
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21756709
To recap the story, a doctor in Brazil, under a government run health care system, was using fake silicone fingers, to stamp doctors into work. As many as six different doctors (apparently) threatened a 7th doctor to stamp them into work, or be fired.
Whether the claimed threat to the 7th doctors job is real or a fabricated alibi, is still under investigation.
What is known, is that the 7th doctor, was caught on camera, with the 6 silicone fingers, stamping in her 6 missing colleagues.
Commentary:
As I have said many many times, socialism, government control over a company or business, always results in problems.
In this case, the problem here is oversight. The people actually at the hospital have no inherent desire, or internal motivation to provide good service, because their pay, the income of the hospital, does not matter.
The government will pay their wages, no matter how good or bad a doctor does, or a hospital does.
This is in fact the very reason government imposed a requirement that doctors sign in with a finger prints. Something absolutely unheard of in America hospitals, chiefly because there's no need.
In a capitalist system, where hospitals and doctors compete with each other over customers, paying patients, there is an inherent need to serve the customers.
If you don't serve the customers because your doctors are not showing up to work, those customers leave and go to a different doctor, or different hospital to get service.
Thus those hospitals without their doctors showing up, end up losing customers, and going bankrupt. Or doctors lose their clients, and close up shop.
There's no need for a sign in sheet at all. If the doctor doesn't show up, and patients are not served, administrators will quickly replace doctors with ones that work. They will do this out of natural necessity.
But back to Brazilian hospitals, why would the administrators bother the doctors? If the doctors go on strike, the administrators will be blamed. And since doctors not showing up for work, doesn't harm the income of the hospital which is paid by government, not patients, then who cares?
Administrators in socialized systems are actually given more incentive to not start any trouble over doctors not showing up. So what if patients are left waiting for 30 hours in the ER? It's not like they paid anything for service.... right?
You Americans who want socialized medicine. Yes you may not want to pay the hospital bill, but what money you'll save from not paying the hospital, you'll more than lose in the hospital not giving a crap about you.
4 responses
@Laurenlynn (715)
• Canada
15 Mar 13
Hi Andy this actually takes place in Brazil, and they are using fake silicone fingers wow this sounds like something out of a scary movie. But you are right when you say hey as long as they are getting paid who cares, what a very sad health care system that is.
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
15 Mar 13
Yes, in fact I said "a doctor in Brazil" right at the start of the post.
Silicone fingers are not difficult. It's like a face mask, they use to make someones likeness, only you put it on a finger, and it copies their finger print, when they dip in ink, and place on the sign in sheet.
So what if patients suffer poor health care, they get paid.
@matersfish (6306)
• United States
16 Mar 13
Even if it weren't the government, even if we were speaking about private business, the old axiom of too many cooks spoiling the pot holds true.
The biggest problem I see with government involvement in these issues is that it fosters too much inefficiency. You get a government body to watch a government body that's watching a government body. Then after the lines get crossed, pockets get padded, and people start focusing more on their own livelihoods and promoting their own wealth, the issue at hand becomes a mess.
It's the same with taxes, welfare, schools, etc -- the bureaucracy creates a tangled, inefficient, corrupt web that just eats through money and hinders true progress.
It's going to be similar everywhere that web is woven.
Even the healthcare we already have here that's controlled by the government is woefully inefficient. And with our moronic, inept government, every clinic and hospital under the system would inevitably turn into a Brazilian story.
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
16 Mar 13
I had to go to a government funded clinic once, and it was sooo amazingly bad. It was late July and they had no Air Conditioning. I was sweating in the waiting room. The ceiling tiles were all were broken, and had water and mold marks on them. The chair I sat down on wobbled, and I noticed it had two broken legs. Even the magazines in the waiting room were all torn up, and ripped to shreds, as well as being 3 months or older.
Meanwhile there was a line of about 7 or 8 people waiting to be seen, and were there before I walked in, and were there after I left which was over an hour later.
At least one of the 'doctors' as it turns out, walked out of the clinic while I was there. He was dressed in a baseball cap, and a t-shirt with 'hooters' written on it.
I asked one of the ladies there if that's how this doctor conducted his practice all the time, and they said 'yes'. Nevertheless, he left even while this long line of people waited for hours. Even the staff at this clinic was horrible. The person that 'helped' me, was down right rude.
Lastly, and maybe I'm making too much of this, but they had a record room with all the patient record. Normally this is a closed room, locked for patient privacy reasons. Here not only was the room completely open, but it didn't even have doors. Anyone, any patient, anyone just stopping by for any reason could walk right in and pick up anyone's or everyone's files, and walk out with them. The clinic gave you a folder with several documents of information in it, when you came, and those folders were the exact same folders in the records room. No one would have known any different if you walked out with several.
On the opposite end, is my dentist. I determined long ago that it is cheaper to pay for dental service directly. So I slap down $100, and get my teeth cleaned. The place is always immaculate. Clean, comfortable, fixed, and the doctor and staff were professional and very decent. Never had any problem with any of them. And wait time? Like zero? I don't think I have EVER waited longer than 3 to 5 minutes.
But of course I pay for service. I'm a customer. I'm a valued customer. They want me to come back, and treat me like it.
@Laurenlynn (715)
• Canada
16 Mar 13
Hi Andy, Pardon my ignorance as I am reading what you have seen I never knew there could be such a clinic. I feel very blessed to of never experienced something like this and it makes me more grateful for where I live. I now understand why you have such a passion for this it may of been a topic I should not of commented on. I will be paying more attention to the worldly news from now on.
@dagami (1158)
• Rome, Italy
24 Mar 13
hi, andy77e. shame on these doctors. this practice is usually common on government offices where employees log in and go out even during office hours. too bad nobody complained before, they should have been caught earlier. fortunately, this is an isolated case. i still believe that most doctors, while they knew beforehand that this is a high paying job, studied medicine because of a genuine desire to help, to be of service to others.
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
25 Mar 13
No. I'm sorry, that's statistically not true. Most doctors go into medicine to earn money.
Why would you even think otherwise? Doctors are human beings. Human beings universally do things to improve their own lives.
Look, why do you think India exports doctors constantly? Thousands of doctors left India to practice in the UK, and the US.
When Castro sent Cuban doctors to Venezuela, they defected to the US and Columbia.
Why do you think they did that? Money.
Doctors are not special individuals motivated by altruistic desires to help. No one is. When the UK recently started cutting doctor pay, the Indian doctors working there started immigrating away.
Even doctors in Canada often move to the US to practice because even though Canada pays more than these other countries, the US pays more than Canada.
Doctors are people. People are motivated by money and improving their lives. We all are. They are no different.
