Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by LeoTinnitus 2240 days ago
Most of the time when I interact with a doctor, they're just entering in information into a database.

Maybe we could bust this guild of ridiculous standards to maybe squeeze in a few others? I don't get why we gotta firstly work our doctors to death, and secondly ensure they are "the best." Seriously, sometimes "good enough" is just that. Just don't let junior doctors make critical decisions for people until theyve got a few years and show skill. I don't know, kinda like every other job. I'm not saying like let any schmuck do it, but any I crazy or is it not obsessive how high the barrier to entry is? That's bs purported by lobbiests and guilds of doctors trying to keep people out to keep their demand and wages high. It's the inverse of how a union (whereas this is a guild of skilled laborers not paying dues) abuse this.
2 comments
three_seagrass 2240 days ago
It's not just about the labor, it's also about the liability and risk mitigation. Most diagnosis and treatment decisions are made by the doctor because they typically face the consequences if they are wrong.
link
LeoTinnitus 2240 days ago
You can blame US law for that. Why not treat them like a prosecutor once they've reached a certain expertise or status? It keeps them from any absurd liability because it's guarded by the state. I'd like to ask why doctor is going to intentionally put someones life at risk cause they're lazy? Sure you'll find some in government work, but if it's government, they'll easily have oversight.
link
mywittyname 2239 days ago
They can also blame themselves. My partner was a healthcare worker (medical surgical) named in several lawsuits because someone on their floor fucked up and now some person is suffering. It's expensive to care for someone whose been disabled due to malpractice, so suing for even nominal damages is going to be expensive.

People make mistakes and sometimes they are deadly. This doesn't just happen to "lazy" doctors. If someone could die every time you introduced a bug, you still couldn't write bug free code.

link
zaphod12 2240 days ago
and that data entry is the number 1 source of burnout for medical professionals. (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-rel...)

There are services now which allow the doctor to film their interaction with a payment and then a lower paid person transcribe and do data entry. It's remarkable that we've come to that.

On the other side, PAs and NPs are taking on an ever increasing amount of healthcare responsibilities and are rapidly growing professions that barely existed a few years ago. (https://www.aanp.org/news-feed/nurse-practitioner-role-conti...)

link
LeoTinnitus 2240 days ago
This is what happens when the government regulates hospitals just like they do banks. At this point they might as well single payer the whole thing. It save everybody loads of time and energy. Not to mention the abhorrently massive data entry.
link
rovolo 2239 days ago
You need documentation for the insurance company to pay for visits/procedures.
link