American health care cannot be compared to other countries because of our cultural diversity.
That’s an original take on the situation. In an op-ed, Dave Racer continues the argument, saying “racial, cultural, hereditary and disease histories have a great impact on U.S. societal outcomes; this is far different from most foreign countries.
It is simply impossible, and quite disingenuous, to compare U.S. life expectancy, infant mortality and a host of other statistics to those of countries with homogenous populations. We are not them.”
I agree to a point. On one hand, there is tremendous waste within our system, and using ideas that other countries have used successfully could help.
However, importing say, the single-payer system of Canada isn’t going to work. Why? The simple reason is that we’re not Canadian.
This also applies to those who like to compare metrics like physician salaries between countries. It is wholly irrelevant what doctors in other countries make, because they do not deal with the costs and issues unique to practicing medicine in the United States.
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{ 4 comments }
Stable family life is paramount. In areas where out-of-wedlock birth rates are high, health outcomes are poor.
Of course GPs in the UK make about 50% more than FPs do here… so at least the primary care payment issues are fixed.
Canada has a lot of cultural diversity too, and especially in urban areas is far from homogeneous, so I can’t agree with the premise of the article.
Waste, though, that’s an area where real improvements are likely to be found (if the effort is made).
That is a great point I had not considered. However, rather than use it as an excuse, can it not be an opportunity to view a way to increase healthcare value? Would it not make sense for doctors to not only specialize in disease states but also in different types of people as a whole. I know in the PC/Racially charged atmosphere of the United States it would seem almost blasphemous to list doctors as “Internal Medicine / Pacific Islander” or any other ethnic background, but it would seem to make sense.
I being extraordinarily tall, would love to have the ability to find a primary care doctor that dealt with other patients of my size. Its not that I’m racist or bias toward any one doctor, its just that I know there are far too many variables out there for any one doctor to know them all.
I know the argument here is referral and specialists, but I find my day far too busy (probably another American problem) to be bouncing around to appointment after appointment. Its easier for me to stop by a bookstore and pick up a book on Marfan or Fibromyalgia and work on treating myself rather than waste my time bouncing around to doctors that have never seen a 7 foot man.
Outside of the “system” how can we blend PC’ness with letting patients know which family doctors are specialists in their unique background be it family history, ethnicity, or just size.
This may even improve quality of practice for family doctors who I’m sure get exhausted trying to know all there is about every segment of the population.
Thoughts?
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