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

by arohner 15y ago

_delirium 15y ago
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.
- jamesbkel 15y ago
  Quite true: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath
- VladRussian 15y ago
  >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
vannevar 15y ago
Doctors are human, and respond to economic incentives just like all other humans. And like all humans, they also respond to non-economic values when they are participating in a culture that reinforces those values. I think medical ethics has been eroded, both by the prevailing American cultural attitude that making money is the highest and best purpose to which one's life can be put, and by rising educational costs which mean that most doctors start their careers deep in debt. As long as we regard medicine as just another market, we'll see this kind of mismatch between profitability and patient well-being.
- kevinpet 15y ago
  As long as we confuse how we'd like things to be with how they are, we're doomed to waste a lot of money that could be put to better use. Doctors are human, humans are most reliably motivated by self interest, the key to good care at good prices is to align economic incentives. Certainly, doctors care, and the social prestige means you can underpay doctors (which selects for those less motivated by money than by the desire to help people), but that does not remove the economic aspect.
  - vannevar 15y ago
    ...humans are most reliably motivated by self interest, the key to good care at good prices is to align economic incentives. Is it really 'the key'? Why? You are making exactly the implicit cultural assumption I'm referring to. In a social context, self interest does not equate simply to economic interest. Incentivizing people economically is not the only way to motivate them, nor is it the most effective way. It only serves as a least common denominator, something to use when there are otherwise no shared values between the parties. Economics alone represents a floor, not a ceiling, and is certainly not a sound foundation on which to build a healthy society.

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

by arohner 15y ago

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

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.

jamesbkel 15y ago
Quite true: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath
VladRussian 15y ago
>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

vannevar 15y ago

Doctors are human, and respond to economic incentives just like all other humans. And like all humans, they also respond to non-economic values when they are participating in a culture that reinforces those values. I think medical ethics has been eroded, both by the prevailing American cultural attitude that making money is the highest and best purpose to which one's life can be put, and by rising educational costs which mean that most doctors start their careers deep in debt. As long as we regard medicine as just another market, we'll see this kind of mismatch between profitability and patient well-being.

kevinpet 15y ago
As long as we confuse how we'd like things to be with how they are, we're doomed to waste a lot of money that could be put to better use. Doctors are human, humans are most reliably motivated by self interest, the key to good care at good prices is to align economic incentives. Certainly, doctors care, and the social prestige means you can underpay doctors (which selects for those less motivated by money than by the desire to help people), but that does not remove the economic aspect.
- vannevar 15y ago
  ...humans are most reliably motivated by self interest, the key to good care at good prices is to align economic incentives. Is it really 'the key'? Why? You are making exactly the implicit cultural assumption I'm referring to. In a social context, self interest does not equate simply to economic interest. Incentivizing people economically is not the only way to motivate them, nor is it the most effective way. It only serves as a least common denominator, something to use when there are otherwise no shared values between the parties. Economics alone represents a floor, not a ceiling, and is certainly not a sound foundation on which to build a healthy society.