quelling the fears of "socialized" medicine

[sparkleydrop]

I'd hate to think that someone would vote for the Republican candidate, based on a fear of "socialized" medicine. So here are some common concerns, and my response to them:

#1 If health care was "socialized" smart people would no longer go into medicine.

You can make the same argument about HMOs/insurance companies--their stacks of paperwork and

Comments

[ricepaddy8]

Kind of off-topic, but did you see the newest JAMA and the lay media articles that came off of it? It analyzes the percentage going into primary care and the factors that influence it.

Also I wish you got a chance to check out some Veteran Affairs or military hospitals because that may also help people see some positives of "socialize" medicine.

[sparkleydrop]

I haven't seen it, but I'll definitely check it out!

Yeah, a lot of ppl have this thing against VA hospitals, but I don't quite get it. You've rotated through VAs/military hospitals, right? How do they compare to your typical hospital?

btw, I got my first interview invite today!

[ricepaddy8]

Yay! Where at

[sparkleydrop]

Do you mean the nurses/ancillary staff are inefficient? I think one problem with our hospital at least, is that the nurses and ancillary staff are overburdened, so they seem inefficient, when really the problem is that we need more nurses/case workers/etc. I think this is one legit criticism of the "pay for performance" scheme...hospital systems that are underfunded and understaffed are going to do worse by virtue of that fact, and then punishing these systems by providing them with less monetary resources seems like an inappropriate solution.