Medical Malpractice

As my brother looks to enter the medical field, I have to take a step back and look at where we are today.

Over the past 4 years I have seen my prescriptions go from $5 each a month to $50. Now, some of the blame lies squarely in the lap of the company that I work for, but I am sure that the economic pressures that they feel are just as strong as the ones that I feel when I look at my check book after going to Wallgreens.

And about that. I can, if I so choose, use a mail order prescription service for about 1/3 the cost of a neighborhood pharmacy. However, it has been my experience that the mail order ones suffer from a lack of, well, face to face interaction. I know that is expensive to have the overhead of corner stores and staff and all. And I know that the huge centralized faceless corps are what are going to take over the world. After all, if we can shave 5% off the bottom line, the Suits will get most of that in bonuses.

I agree that some times consolidation can be a good idea, however I think that the world we live in has taken it a bit too far. What ever happened to 'putting all your eggs in one basket'? If half the prescriptions for the nation come out of a warehouse in Las Vegas, what happens if it gets Hit by A Bus?

(aside: that is an in-joke. when I was doing business consulting we would put plans to the 'hit by a bus' test. Start hitting people and things in the plan with imaginary buses and see if the plan still works.)

I am sure that the powers that be have a good plan in place, and I should rest assured that we will all get our doses of Valium, 'The Pill' or what have you. I guess that my concern is not the centralization of the services; it is what happened to face-to-face interaction?

Oh, yeah, this coming from a self defined computer geek!

I think that, especially in the medical field, face-to-face interaction is very important. Would you really only like to speak to a doctor over the phone? I think not. If it's cost cutting they want, then find other ways. How about lowering malpractice insurance? That would be a huge start. How about allowing the free market to take place, and allowing us to buy medicine from other countries? How about giving the consumer a Choice?

-Tsyko