Waiting time for a Doc, most important issue in Canada

[Soxy]

Don't we have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the industrialized world too?

 

I think lack of insurance really hurts the unborn the most in this country--no pre-natal care = awful.

[Jenksismyhero]

If you can point me to a study that shows the US health care system surpasses the quality of care in other countries, I'd like to read it. I know in certain areas, like breast cancer, we lead the world, but in many others, we are middle of the pack. I've yet to come across anything that shows anything different. And anecdotal evidence from a relative doesn't really count for much.

 

I get this from my mother who's been a nurse practitioner/nurse for over 30 years and my sister who's been a doctor for close to 10 years. We get into these discussions all the time and they are always speaking of how their jobs have changed because of new technologies. Be it procedures that are now more readily available or more efficient, to old in-patient care now being performed in out-patient care, speed of recovery, etc etc.

 

Again, I think you have to look at it in context. The health care industry is probably vastly different than the rest of the world. Think about things like Viagra. While other countries are more worried about death, we're spending money talking with a urologist about how to get excited again...

[Damen]

I get this from my mother who's been a nurse practitioner/nurse for over 30 years and my sister who's been a doctor for close to 10 years. We get into these discussions all the time and they are always speaking of how their jobs have changed because of new technologies. Be it procedures that are now more readily available or more efficient, to old in-patient care now being performed in out-patient care, speed of recovery, etc etc.

 

Again, I think you have to look at it in context. The health care industry is probably vastly different than the rest of the world. Think about things like Viagra. While other countries are more worried about death, we're spending money talking with a urologist about how to get excited again...

 

Like I said, anecdotal evidence from relatives does nothing for me. But it sure doesn't seem like they have any sufficient knowledge of health care in any country but our own, so I'm not sure what the point is. It doesn't seem to have much to do with what I was saying.

[southsider2k5]

I don't know if you've got any empirical evidence to back you up on that. Most studies seem to show that, despite spending more than twice as much per capita than any other country in the world, the US is in the middle of the pack in terms of quality of health care for most health issues.

 

That would mean that governments who've gotten their hands on it (more), not only provide health care to all of its citizens, they've done so at a vastly more efficient rate, while still maintianing or beating the quality we have here.

 

So are you honestly trying to tell me that you believe the US government would get ahold of an ineffectient and expensive program, proceed to expand it to more at risk people, and be able to add to quality of health care and/or reduce the per capita costs?

[kapkomet]

So are you honestly trying to tell me that you believe the US government would get ahold of an ineffectient and expensive program, proceed to expand it to more at risk people, and be able to add to quality of health care and/or reduce the per capita costs?

Sounds like a Republican proposal to me.

[Jenksismyhero]

Like I said, anecdotal evidence from relatives does nothing for me. But it sure doesn't seem like they have any sufficient knowledge of health care in any country but our own, so I'm not sure what the point is. It doesn't seem to have much to do with what I was saying.

 

 

Your original qoute said:

 

No, I think in many cases we've got the worst of both worlds right now. I mean seriously, how can you defend a system in which we spend vastly more per capita than anywhere else in the world, while not seeing any increases in quality, while still leaving millions uninsured or underinsured.

 

I would think that having sufficient knowledge in our own health care, first-hand knowledge at that, would refute your claim that we haven't increased the quality of care. You make no reference to another country so why would I need to bring evidence of that in?

 

If you are saying that COMPARED to other countries our system has not increased in quality, I'd like for YOU to prove to me, with empirical evidence, that our system is on par with that of other similiar countries in all respects of medicine, including technological advancement.

 

I still think context is important. Different countries stress different health care needs. For instance I doubt our quality of care in bird flu medicines would outweigh that of China, but that's not because we lack the requisite skill or knowledge. Conversely I would imagine our skill and knowledge of diseases like AIDS or diabetes would be higher comparatevily. As would things like sports medicine or even obesity now that it's so prevalent.

 

I'll try to find some studies though when I have time.

[Damen]

Your original qoute said:

I would think that having sufficient knowledge in our own health care, first-hand knowledge at that, would refute your claim that we haven't increased the quality of care. You make no reference to another country so why would I need to bring evidence of that in?

 

If you are saying that COMPARED to other countries our system has not increased in quality, I'd like for YOU to prove to me, with empirical evidence, that our system is on par with that of other similiar countries in all respects of medicine, including technological advancement.

 

I still think context is important. Different countries stress different health care needs. For instance I doubt our quality of care in bird flu medicines would outweigh that of China, but that's not because we lack the requisite skill or knowledge. Conversely I would imagine our skill and knowledge of diseases like AIDS or diabetes would be higher comparatevily. As would things like sports medicine or even obesity now that it's so prevalent.

 

I'll try to find some studies though when I have time.

 

What I meant by that was our convergence of public and private health care.

Edited December 5, 2006 by Damen

[Balta1701]

I still think context is important. Different countries stress different health care needs. For instance I doubt our quality of care in bird flu medicines would outweigh that of China, but that's not because we lack the requisite skill or knowledge. Conversely I would imagine our skill and knowledge of diseases like AIDS or diabetes would be higher comparatevily. As would things like sports medicine or even obesity now that it's so prevalent.

That's simply not how it works at all. Almost all of the actual research on things like the bird flu is done by westerners, regardless of where it has mostly cropped up.

[Damen]

I'll try to find some studies though when I have time.

 

Man, I took about 15 minutes finding all these studies and linking to them in a nice long post, only to have it deleted when i tried to post it. I haven't had the heart to find them since.