Summary of Managing the Myths of Health Care

Health Care Is Not a Business

Worldwide, health care has made tremendous strides. People now live longer than ever in human history. Yet patients and their families want, expect and demand more, but they “don’t want to pay for it.” This makes cost cutting paramount, and health care systems suffer.

Leaders in government and health care administration – who seldom understand the daily work of doctors, nurses and other practitioners – implement trendy fixes under the guise of running health care “like a business.” Health care can’t focus on cost cutting – nor can it put the burdens of “caveat emptor” and “comparison shopping” on sick, sometimes dying or incapacitated patients. Society can’t let pharmaceutical giants charge “what the market will bear” for products patients need to stay alive. Nor should administrators use carrots and sticks to motivate doctors and nurses, who put up with daily tragedy and stress largely because they see their work as a “calling.” Health care can benefit from some business practices, but it can’t operate as a business.

“Collaborative Autonomy”

Administrators, governments and pharmaceuticals share only part of the blame...