The Force will be with you, Harry Spicer, always...
16-Dec-97 14:37:00, Jedi Master Harry Spicer communicated to Jedi Master 
Samuel Wong concerning Re: Medicine.
 HS> Higher numbers of physicians and health-related professionals in the 
.S.
 HS> are being 'limited' more on referrals and some types of 'necessary'
 HS> medical treatment...to the major impact that HMOs are having on 
ractices
 HS> here.  Many professionals are now 'employees' - with less autonomy in
 HS> decisons related to diagnostic tests, referrals, and surgery - in some
 HS> cases.  There are also new guidelinesules expected that relate to
 HS> "Medicare" and "Medicaid" in America.
 HS> Under-funded hospitals...I suggest that many "for profit" hospitals are
 HS> now owned by larger Corporations, where the bottom line is profits, not
 HS> patient care.
I wouldn't say the same about hospitals here in New Zealand.  The main
problem here is straight funding.  There are waiting lists a mile long, and
few specialist centres which make things worse (but what would you expect
from a country with a population of 3.5 million?).  To make matters worse
in some areas, hospitals or wards have been closing down to meet with a:
Number of people per area to hospital beds ratio, so in rural areas, less
beds have become available to cut down on health spending.
Despite the fact that the medical profession is strongly sought after here
in NZ (over a thousand students each year leaving secondary school trying
for under 200 places, creating strong entrance competition), there seems to
be little funding for those who go through up to 15 years of training.
Just out of curiosity, what is your position in the medical profession?
 -=> Yours sincerely, Jedi Master Samuel Wong <=-
.!. Die, my dear Doctor is the LAST thing I will do!!
___ T-TAG 1.13 [*UnReg*]
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