Why do doctors charge so little ?

Both doctors and patients have completely different perspectives as regards how much they should be paying for medical services.

The public, the press and the politicians feel that doctors have become greedy and mercenary, and are just out to make money.

A doctor has a completely different perspective ! After all, he is potentially saving a human life, and how can anyone put a value on human life. Isn't that irreplaceable, and shouldn't that make his services priceless? He can't understand why a patient grudges paying the doctor his professional fees.  Isn't he providing a service which goes far beyond delivering monetary value ?

When we are healthy , we don't think about the medical services we may need . We expect to remain well, which means we take our health for granted . We save money in order to plan our holidays, but we don't budget for having to spend any money just in order to remain healthy. This is why when we fall ill,  it comes as a bit of a shock , because it is unexpected.  We go to a doctor to help us to get better, but it seems a little unfair that he charges us just to get us back to normal ! After all why should we pay so much money just to go back to being healthy , which was our default status ?

This is the crux of the issue . Health is priceless , and that's why it becomes so hard to put a price on it. Doctors don't practice medicine just in order to make money. They want to be healers, and they're happy when their patients get well . However, they do expect to be paid for their services - after all , this is their profession , and their only source of earning their daily bread and butter.

They also can't understand the fact that when doctors are found to be medically negligent, the courts will charge them an arm and a leg for their deficient medical services, because of the harm they have caused to the patient. However, but when the doctor salvages the patient's arm ( for example, after a traumatic injury) the patient pays his fees very grudgingly - and this is a tiny fraction of the penalty a court levies ! Why these double standards?


The problem is that patients believe that healthcare is a right, and they should not have to pay for it. They feel entitled to their good health,  and it hurts them to have to pay for something they have taken for granted all their life. We don't mind paying for an expensive TV , because we think it adds value to our life - but we grudge every single paisa the doctor charges us, because we think it has gone down the drain.

Let me end with this great story. A doctor saves the life of a very rich man who was choking on a bone in a restaurant by performing the Heimlich maneuver skillfully. The grateful man asks him - Thank you so much for saving my life doctor. How much do I owe you ? And the doctor says - Just pay me half of what you were willing to when you were choking to death !

Both doctors and patients have completely different perspectives as regards how much they should be paying for medical services. The public, the press and the politicians feel that doctors have become greedy and mercenary, and are just out to make money. A doctor has a completely different perspective ! After all, he is potentially saving a human life, and how can anyone put a value on human life. Isn't that irreplaceable, and shouldn't that make his services priceless? He can't understand why a patient grudges paying the doctor his professional fees. Isn't he providing a service which goes far beyond delivering monetary value ? The problem is that when we are healthy , we don't think about the medical services we may need . We expect to remain well, which means we take our health for granted . We save money in order to plan our holidays, but we don't budget for having to spend any money just in order to remain healthy. This is why when we fall ill, it comes as a bit of a shock , because it is unexpected. We go to a doctor to help us to get better, but it seems a little unfair that he charges us just to get us back to normal ! After all why should we pay so much money just to go back to being healthy , which was our default status ? Health is priceless , and that's why it becomes so hard to put a price on it. Doctors don't practice medicine just in order to make money. They want to be healers, and they're happy when their patients get well . However, they do expect to be paid for their services - after all , this is their profession , and their only source of earning their daily bread and butter. They also can't understand the fact that when doctors are found to be medically negligent, the courts will charge them an arm and a leg for their deficient medical services, because of the harm they have caused to the patient. However, but when the doctor salvages the patient's arm ( for example, after a traumatic injury) the patient pays his fees very grudgingly - and this is a tiny fraction of the penalty a court levies ! Why these double standards? The problem is that patients believe that healthcare is a right, and they should not have to pay for it. They feel entitled to their good health, and it hurts them to have to pay for something they have taken for granted all their life. We don't mind paying for an expensive TV , because we think it adds value to our life - but we grudge every single paisa the doctor charges us, because we think it has gone down the drain. Let me end with this great story. A doctor saves the life of a very rich man who was choking on a bone in a restaurant by performing the Heimlich maneuver skillfully. The grateful man asks him - Thank you so much for saving my life doctor. How much do I owe you ? And the doctor says - Just pay me half of what you were willing to when you were choking to death !

Read more at: https://www.docplexus.in/#/app/posts/e4014c3b-da0a-44cf-bf1b-c35c7b3358eb
Copyright 2016 © Docplexus

Both doctors and patients have completely different perspectives as regards how much they should be paying for medical services. The public, the press and the politicians feel that doctors have become greedy and mercenary, and are just out to make money. A doctor has a completely different perspective ! After all, he is potentially saving a human life, and how can anyone put a value on human life. Isn't that irreplaceable, and shouldn't that make his services priceless? He can't understand why a patient grudges paying the doctor his professional fees. Isn't he providing a service which goes far beyond delivering monetary value ? The problem is that when we are healthy , we don't think about the medical services we may need . We expect to remain well, which means we take our health for granted . We save money in order to plan our holidays, but we don't budget for having to spend any money just in order to remain healthy. This is why when we fall ill, it comes as a bit of a shock , because it is unexpected. We go to a doctor to help us to get better, but it seems a little unfair that he charges us just to get us back to normal ! After all why should we pay so much money just to go back to being healthy , which was our default status ? Health is priceless , and that's why it becomes so hard to put a price on it. Doctors don't practice medicine just in order to make money. They want to be healers, and they're happy when their patients get well . However, they do expect to be paid for their services - after all , this is their profession , and their only source of earning their daily bread and butter. They also can't understand the fact that when doctors are found to be medically negligent, the courts will charge them an arm and a leg for their deficient medical services, because of the harm they have caused to the patient. However, but when the doctor salvages the patient's arm ( for example, after a traumatic injury) the patient pays his fees very grudgingly - and this is a tiny fraction of the penalty a court levies ! Why these double standards? The problem is that patients believe that healthcare is a right, and they should not have to pay for it. They feel entitled to their good health, and it hurts them to have to pay for something they have taken for granted all their life. We don't mind paying for an expensive TV , because we think it adds value to our life - but we grudge every single paisa the doctor charges us, because we think it has gone down the drain. Let me end with this great story. A doctor saves the life of a very rich man who was choking on a bone in a restaurant by performing the Heimlich maneuver skillfully. The grateful man asks him - Thank you so much for saving my life doctor. How much do I owe you ? And the doctor says - Just pay me half of what you were willing to when you were choking to death !

Read more at: https://www.docplexus.in/#/app/posts/e4014c3b-da0a-44cf-bf1b-c35c7b3358eb
Copyright 2016 © Docplexus

Both doctors and patients have completely different perspectives as regards how much they should be paying for medical services. The public, the press and the politicians feel that doctors have become greedy and mercenary, and are just out to make money. A doctor has a completely different perspective ! After all, he is potentially saving a human life, and how can anyone put a value on human life. Isn't that irreplaceable, and shouldn't that make his services priceless? He can't understand why a patient grudges paying the doctor his professional fees. Isn't he providing a service which goes far beyond delivering monetary value ? The problem is that when we are healthy , we don't think about the medical services we may need . We expect to remain well, which means we take our health for granted . We save money in order to plan our holidays, but we don't budget for having to spend any money just in order to remain healthy. This is why when we fall ill, it comes as a bit of a shock , because it is unexpected. We go to a doctor to help us to get better, but it seems a little unfair that he charges us just to get us back to normal ! After all why should we pay so much money just to go back to being healthy , which was our default status ? Health is priceless , and that's why it becomes so hard to put a price on it. Doctors don't practice medicine just in order to make money. They want to be healers, and they're happy when their patients get well . However, they do expect to be paid for their services - after all , this is their profession , and their only source of earning their daily bread and butter. They also can't understand the fact that when doctors are found to be medically negligent, the courts will charge them an arm and a leg for their deficient medical services, because of the harm they have caused to the patient. However, but when the doctor salvages the patient's arm ( for example, after a traumatic injury) the patient pays his fees very grudgingly - and this is a tiny fraction of the penalty a court levies ! Why these double standards? The problem is that patients believe that healthcare is a right, and they should not have to pay for it. They feel entitled to their good health, and it hurts them to have to pay for something they have taken for granted all their life. We don't mind paying for an expensive TV , because we think it adds value to our life - but we grudge every single paisa the doctor charges us, because we think it has gone down the drain. Let me end with this great story. A doctor saves the life of a very rich man who was choking on a bone in a restaurant by performing the Heimlich maneuver skillfully. The grateful man asks him - Thank you so much for saving my life doctor. How much do I owe you ? And the doctor says - Just pay me half of what you were willing to when you were choking to death !

Read more at: https://www.docplexus.in/#/app/posts/e4014c3b-da0a-44cf-bf1b-c35c7b3358eb
Copyright 2016 © Docplexus