When I was a child, we had a family Doctor, Malcolm J. Tear. He delivered both me and my brother and also took care of my mom and dad. We would go to his office, sit on a folding chair (without music or magazines) and wait for Dr. Tear to come out and tell us he was ready for us. When Dr. Tear retired, we started with Dr. Craig. Dr. Craig shared an office complex with our dentist. He diagnosed my mother’s colon cancer and diabetes and delivered my first-born son. No more folding chairs but no receptionist, the nurse would come out when it was your turn.
I’m not suggesting we should go back to folding chairs and a lack of specialists, but I do think we need to look at some of the other factors that are pushing up the cost of health care. We have already talked at length about prescription drugs and the advantage the drug companies are taking on the United States that allows them to deduct their research and their advertising. Drug representatives often earn more than the physicians they sell their wares to. I have mentioned the outrageous salaries of hospital administrators and hospital executives often numbering in many millions of dollars a year (each, not in total).
The cost of MRIs, CAT scans and other durable medical equipment have diagnosed and therefore, saved lives. Specialists are better for many maladies and if you have a heart attack, you’ll be wanting to see a cardiologist. I support advanced technology and providing the best physicians in every specialty, so our healthcare is the best in the world.
I believe that overdoing it in décor is a symbol of “we can do anything because we have the money and we are going to get more.” It is not just the Koa furniture but the philosophy that says a hospital needs a decorator and furniture most of us could not afford for our own homes. There is a woman’s clinic here in Honolulu that mainly does mammograms. The lobby is three times the size it needs to be and there are two receptionists with what looks like, Koa desks. The double glass entry doors are etched with a Hawaiian theme and the comfortable chairs are upholstered with Hawaiian prints. There is a wide selection of reading material. It made me uncomfortable and I changed clinics. The mammogram still hurts and I’d rather not be subsidizing over indulgence in decoration.