Political passions drive doctors to campaign
By Joel B. Finkelstein
American Medical News – Oct. 25, 2004
Issues important to physicians
In a survey of 1,050 physicians…
Ranked as No. 1 issue:
42% – Liability reform
20% – Cost of coverage
18% – Uninsured Americans
10% – Abortion
04% – Medicare
03% – Patients’ rights
02% – Cost of Rx drugs
01% – Benefits for seniors
Source: Muhlenberg College
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/10/25/gvl21025.htm
Comment: My first reaction was the profound sense of sorrow felt on my realization that physicians do not place the plight of the uninsured and lack of affordability of health care above all else. The actual impact of liability issues on the health care system is almost negligible when contrasted with the major impact of financial hardship, suffering and even loss of life that insurance and cost issues have. How could physicians ever come to the conclusion that the nuisance of facing lawsuits is a more important issue than the suffering and financial hardship of many of their patients?
But giving this more thought, instead of going into a funk over how physicians could be so callous, I decided that we need to ask ourselves why so many physicians do place this as the number one priority. It is unlikely that individuals who have dedicated their lives to the healing arts are really insensitive to their patients’ needs. It is more likely that physicians are exposed to unrelenting anxiety and stress that has made their lives relatively miserable. Although, objectively, that level of misery cannot compare to the suffering of their patients who cannot afford access to care, it must be foremost in their minds, probably because it is a psychological pain that never seems to go away.
There is a lesson here. We want our health care professionals to be contented as they dedicate themselves to improving the health of their patients. Malcontented professionals will always underperform.
Medical injury is certainly an issue that we must address. But it is very clear that the process must be revolutionized so that the physicians’ motivations will be to assist their patients in attaining access to care in an environment that is as error-free as possible, but also to assist them in obtaining appropriate compensation when the system has failed to prevent harmful errors.
The patient must always be placed first. And the patients’ interests will be served best in an environment that is a rewarding experience for the patients’ health care professionals.