3 ms·

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, hum

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.