The end of a not so great debate!

“If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well”
-Proverb



One of the great long running debates within the local medical scene is that of fee for service versus salary. A good rule of thumb when you hear this conversation starting between a doctor and well anyone is to do your best and run screaming from the room because no matter how you stack it there is no way that conversation is ending politely.

Like most issues this one has its supporters and detractors and unlike some people I have personally made an effort not to form an opinion simply because even if I did who would care anyway? It’s not as if this is an issue I can even participate in even if I wanted to.

But a while back I caught in a conversation which turned to this subject and before I knew it I was trapped and being asked to render an opinion. I answered based on what I did know and understood about the issue (at least at that moment) and I mentioned that I thought the salary option seemed the best option. Wrong answer of course! Immediately the rebuttal came and it seemed to imply that to adopt a salary system would mean that there would be less motivation for doctors to see patients because they would make the same amount of money no matter how many or how few patients they saw.

While I wanted to be polite the attitude under lying the statement really honked me off and I made the mistake of snapping back with: “oh I don’t know how about some concept of professional ethics and standards in this regard or what about just plain good old personal pride at doing a good job?”

Needless to say that went over like a lead balloon and as I intoned in the first paragraph the conversation ended abruptly and badly.

The bottom line here for me is that as salaried health care professional myself the reality is that if anyone ever caught me selectively doing work based on how heavy patient x versus patient y was that I would be hauled up on the carpet so fast it would make everyone’s head spin. Why wouldn’t exactly the same apply to the Doc’s? Even more why didn’t the person in question even consider that fact? The answer I suspect is for the same reason as is the case with so many other things that the rules for the rest of us seem not to be applied to Doctors almost as if they should be above such petty considerations.

Well fu@K that noise!

No matter how much I like or dislike my job I strive to always do it to the best of my ability! I may not like what I do, but I do it well every time! As I am fond of telling people it is easy to do something you love well, try doing something you hate well! A philosophy that seems to be sadly lacking in a group of people that should know better not to mention should be held to a high standard to start with!