UD Health Care II

[Armoured]

Of course they do but no one can stop anyone going where they want to, American doctors have gone to Canada to work.

Soooo... USA has a doctors shortage, that's cool, we'll just steal other countries' doctors, and create a healthcare crisis in them instead. Problem solved, right?

 

[Jan Volkes]

Soooo... USA has a doctors shortage, that's cool, we'll just steal other countries' doctors, and create a healthcare crisis in them instead. Problem solved, right?

How did the US get the foreign doctors they have now? did it cause a crisis anywhere?

 

[Jan Volkes]

It's well known that indifference is worse than hate and Americans seem to be indifferent to the fate of other Americans.

America is the original dog eat dog society where it's every man for himself, just like on a sinking ship.

 

[Vylo]

I don't really have a count, it is just a theory off the top of my head. I also think they might be unevenly distributed.. at least the ones we do have. Since it is viewed as a commodity, doctors will pick locations where they can charge the most and have the fewer patients. There are usually more doctors in areas of higher income, from my understanding, than say the "bad side" of town. because medicare/medicaid gives them so little money for all the trouble they go through with so many patients of lower income.

Med school is also expensive and hard.. which might be a reason why doctors today charge so much to begin with.. to survive and pull themselves out of the ridiculous student debt.

Actually the US has 2.4 doctors per 1,000 people, slightly more than Japan, who is ranked ~#4 in healthcare worldwide.

We have the doctors.

 

[Jan Volkes]

Actually the US has 2.4 doctors per 1,000 people, slightly more than Japan, who is ranked ~#4 in healthcare worldwide.

We have the doctors.

Does that number include all Americans or just the Americans with health insurance? prior to Obamacare there were about 45 million people without cover, that figure is now down to about 35 million [still a huge huge number], how many of them die every year because they do not have cover? quite a few.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Actually the US has 2.4 doctors per 1,000 people, slightly more than Japan, who is ranked ~#4 in healthcare worldwide.

We have the doctors.

So you're saying 1 man can handle taking care of 500 people's healthcare? or if we round up 3 men can handle over 300 people? I don't know about that.

 

[Jan Volkes]

So you're saying 1 man can handle taking care of 500 people's healthcare? or if we round up 3 men can handle over 300 people? I don't know about that.

2.4 Doctors per 1000 people is only slightly less than normal for the rest of the rich industrialised countries so yes,
Why? because strangely not all of the people are sick or injured all of the time.

 

[bhsmte]

I don't really have a count, it is just a theory off the top of my head. I also think they might be unevenly distributed.. at least the ones we do have. Since it is viewed as a commodity, doctors will pick locations where they can charge the most and have the fewer patients. There are usually more doctors in areas of higher income, from my understanding, than say the "bad side" of town. because medicare/medicaid gives them so little money for all the trouble they go through with so many patients of lower income.

Med school is also expensive and hard.. which might be a reason why doctors today charge so much to begin with.. to survive and pull themselves out of the ridiculous student debt.

You are seeing a massive growth in Nurse Practionaires and Physician assistants, to help reduce the burden off of primary care physicians, because there has been a shortage of primary care docs for quite a while.

And yes, medical school is very hard and very expensive and in many of the countries where you see universal care, those countries subsidize the medical school (and undergraduate) education of their citizens and doctors. In the United States, it is not uncommon for a doctor to leave medical school, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, from loans to pay for school.

 

[bhsmte]

So you're saying 1 man can handle taking care of 500 people's healthcare? or if we round up 3 men can handle over 300 people? I don't know about that.

Yes, one doctor can handle 500, because people don't go to the doctor as often as you think. A primary care doc can see 25-30 patients a day and deliver good care. That would mean, they can deliver around 5000 appointments a year, assuming 42 weeks of the year they are seeing patients. That would be, 10 visits a year per patient, which is more than enough.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Yes, one doctor can handle 500, because people don't go to the doctor as often as you think. A primary care doc can see 25-30 patients a day and deliver good care. That would mean, they can deliver around 5000 appointments a year, assuming 42 weeks of the year they are seeing patients. That would be, 10 visits a year per patient, which is more than enough.

After I posted it I began to stew on ot more, and the very same things you said came to mind.

 

[bhsmte]

After I posted it I began to stew on ot more, and the very same things you said came to mind.

In reality, most primary care docs care for far more than 500 patients (well over 1000) and they are able to do so, since 2-3 appointments per year is the norm and adequate to care for their population. Sure, some may be sicker and visit 6-8 times a year, but some only visit once a year for checkup and are healthy.

With the help of a NP and or physician assistant, they can even handle more patients.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

In reality, most primary care docs care for far more than 500 patients (well over 1000) and they are able to do so, since 2-3 appointments per year is the norm and adequate to care for their population. Sure, some may be sicker and visit 6-8 times a year, but some only visit once a year for checkup and are healthy.

With the help of a NP and or physician assistant, they can even handle more patients.

I never said it was a good theory.

 

[revanneosl]

So you're saying 1 man can handle taking care of 500 people's healthcare? or if we round up 3 men can handle over 300 people? I don't know about that.

I don't want to derail the conversation, but seriously? "One man?" "Three men?" Women have been allowed to be doctors for just years & years now.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

I don't want to derail the conversation, but seriously? "One man?" "Three men?" Women have been allowed to be doctors for just years & years now.

lol seriously? I use the term men to mean all people. I guess I have to learn to use more gender neutral terms.

 

[revanneosl]

I'm a bit of a stickler, but I try to be good natured about it.

 

[Jan Volkes]

Soooo... USA has a doctors shortage, that's cool, we'll just steal other countries' doctors, and create a healthcare crisis in them instead. Problem solved, right?

How did the US get the foreign doctors they have now? did it cause a crisis anywhere?

Still waiting for an answer.

 

[bhsmte]

Still waiting for an answer.

The bulk of the foreign doctors the US has, never practiced medicine in those foreign countries. They may have gone to medical school in those countries and then they bolted to the United States.

 

[Panzerkamfwagen]

First you have to convince people in the US that the government can "fix" something without making it worse.

 

[Vylo]

First you have to convince people in the US that the government can "fix" something without making it worse.

Been part of it. The problem for me, having worked for the government, is that generally it either does something very well, or horribly wrong. You almost never see something the government did and think "meh, its ok". It either fixed a major problem, or made a new one.

 

[Armoured]

Still waiting for an answer.

If the doctors came from a country with an extant doctor shortage, yes.