4 ms·

I’d suggest you’ve also overstepped re “health care systems have collapsed”, especially as it pertains to the pandemic. Health care systems run close to capaci

I’d suggest you’ve also overstepped re “health care systems have collapsed”, especially as it pertains to the pandemic. Health care systems run close to capacity with wait times under even normal conditions. Western Australia has had almost negligible covid-related illness and yet it’s healthcare system is still in a precarious state re load. Victoria only announced a code brown and cancelling/rescheduling of elective surgeries a month ago. Meanwhile over the larger two year time horizon our system has apparently collapsed I’ve had a shoulder reconstruction and my wife has two separate surgeries on each of her hands. Our healthcare system is just a mess with unfortunate incentives around what is given priority. The pandemic is just a convenient cover for what is an extended period of under investment and a lack of resources. The same stories about delays in elective surgeries and people waiting years for hip replacements have themselves been central to the narrative even before the pandemic.

thrown_22 5y ago
ls15 5y ago
> Health care systems run close to capacity with wait times under even normal conditions. You make that sound like a good idea. Shouldn't there be a buffer in the first place? How can a healthcare system cope with other cases of sudden influx of patients when there was no way to vaccinate against that, such as natural disasters?
- hajile 5y ago
  US has 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people. Cuba has almost 6 doctors per 1,000 people (more than almost any 1st world country). These doctors are completely strapped for advanced medical equipment, but they have sufficient resources for preventative care. If Cuba's doctors saw 12 patients per day, they would see every person in the country every 2 weeks. This (plus reducing obesity) goes a long way toward solving the problem. Cuba has problems where advanced treatment is needed, but succeeds at catching disease early and encouraging people to solve lifestyle problems before they cause damage. The US needs to DOUBLE its medical doctor graduation rates just to keep up with countries like Austria. How does this happen? In the 50's, your doctor spent 1-2 years doing prerequisites then 4 years in medical school and 1 year of internship before setting up a general practice. Today, they need 4-5 years for their BS degree then 4 years of med school, then 1 year of internship, then 3 more years of family medicine residency. It takes 13 years just to be able to diagnose the sniffles or send you on to a specialist. Even a nurse practitioner takes 4-5 years for their BSN then another 3-4 years for their MSN which is still longer than the doctors people saw in times past. Despite this, patient outcome is virtually unchanged. This credential inflation costs valuable years that could be spent treating patients and accrues debt that is then passed along to patients as higher costs. Because insurance companies profit on a percentage of income, the magnify those costs even more. What happens if you change this back to how it was? Loads of doctors get mad because all their schooling becomes pointless. When supply doubles, their wages go down too. What do you do with all the nurse practitioners who have more education and experience than the doctors? The rest of the country would benefit, but the people most involved have more to lose and a much stronger reason to push for the status quo (not to mention much more money to spend in lobbying).

thrown_22 5y ago

ls15 5y ago

> Health care systems run close to capacity with wait times under even normal conditions. You make that sound like a good idea. Shouldn't there be a buffer in the first place? How can a healthcare system cope with other cases of sudden influx of patients when there was no way to vaccinate against that, such as natural disasters?

hajile 5y ago
US has 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people. Cuba has almost 6 doctors per 1,000 people (more than almost any 1st world country). These doctors are completely strapped for advanced medical equipment, but they have sufficient resources for preventative care. If Cuba's doctors saw 12 patients per day, they would see every person in the country every 2 weeks. This (plus reducing obesity) goes a long way toward solving the problem. Cuba has problems where advanced treatment is needed, but succeeds at catching disease early and encouraging people to solve lifestyle problems before they cause damage. The US needs to DOUBLE its medical doctor graduation rates just to keep up with countries like Austria. How does this happen? In the 50's, your doctor spent 1-2 years doing prerequisites then 4 years in medical school and 1 year of internship before setting up a general practice. Today, they need 4-5 years for their BS degree then 4 years of med school, then 1 year of internship, then 3 more years of family medicine residency. It takes 13 years just to be able to diagnose the sniffles or send you on to a specialist. Even a nurse practitioner takes 4-5 years for their BSN then another 3-4 years for their MSN which is still longer than the doctors people saw in times past. Despite this, patient outcome is virtually unchanged. This credential inflation costs valuable years that could be spent treating patients and accrues debt that is then passed along to patients as higher costs. Because insurance companies profit on a percentage of income, the magnify those costs even more. What happens if you change this back to how it was? Loads of doctors get mad because all their schooling becomes pointless. When supply doubles, their wages go down too. What do you do with all the nurse practitioners who have more education and experience than the doctors? The rest of the country would benefit, but the people most involved have more to lose and a much stronger reason to push for the status quo (not to mention much more money to spend in lobbying).