Years back, an associate professor from a prestigious medical school received a letter from a health care company in the US that moved to let him go from its company. The largest HMO on the east coast gave no reason for the firing, but the doctor thought this has something to do with his public criticisms about HMOs. He never faltered in telling everyone about how this HMO gives incentives to doctors who deny care needed by patients which put these people’s lives at risk and also forces them to sign a standard contract with a gag clause.
What it stipulates is that the doctor must agree to not taking any form of action or any communication that might dissuade enrollees, potential clients, their employers, union groups or the quality of the coverage of service and that the doctor must keep these information and agreement under high confidentiality. To sum it up easily, a doctor can be fired anytime he tells a patient something that an HMO would not agree on.Learn about doctor jobs australia.
In this present medical scenario, which only concerns itself with maximizing profits, HMOs implement these policies and cause physicians to withhold the true prognoses and diagnoses from their patients and worse, they don’t tell the other treatment options available. Just take a look at these hypothetical scenarios of what may be as these doctors are gagged.
A suspicious shadow figures in the mammogram results of a 49 year old woman. the negative finding troubled the woman’s doctor and so, he would want to order another test to make sure that the result was just because of a machine error, as to disregard the cancer- positive result. The HMO does not cover this and here lies the problem. If the physician makes the mistake of making the lady pay for a second mammogram by herself, this would be taken as criticism towards the HMO’s quality of service. To make it little as possible, another check-up is advised to the patient after six months by the doctor. if the woman will be found positive of breast cancer, the six months would be critical for her.
An operation must be made to the 60-year-old man in order to relieve the obstruction caused by the enlarged prostate. The man’s surgeon is considering the use of the newest laser procedure that involves less physician trauma, blood loss, low risk of impotence and infection. The matter is that the HMO will only cover for the patient if he undergoes a dangerous procedure with plenty of risks. An HMO quickly terminates the surgeon found guilty of informing his patient of the new available operation and encourages him to avail of this HMO service.To get a better understanding of doctor job australia, visit their website.
A 35-year-old woman is currently facing sever bouts of depression. The physician aimed to make her ingest a medicine that won’t give any side effects or a chance of death from a self administered overdoes. But then a drug with high risk of death from overdose as well as many side effects is being pushed by the HMO. The doctor thought of suggesting his patient to purchase the better brand by herself. But it is a sad truth that his contract prevents him from saying a word. Only patients who are informed well are the ones who make sound health care choices.
Even with the rise of the most advance medical information, savvy consumers are still dependent on their doctors’ words to make them understand. Failure in terms of health fates of those patients could be resulted from the negligence of the doctors to their patients. In this situation, it is stupid for patients to think that their doctors are giving them the entire truth.
The end of such gag orders are fought for by a Californian consumer watchdog group and nurses association in the same state through a ballot initiative. The people under HMOs can now get the service of their doctors by way of public education, legislation and simply through professional and civic groups. The courageous example of this doctor who got fired from the company because of his criticisms against their policy should be followed by other people. He thoroughly scanned his contract and removed the gag clause before sending it back to the HMO
Orders of restraint found in the contracts of HMO simply cancel out the basic principle of the Hippocratic Oath which states that the doctor should never inflict harm on anyone and work for the good of his patients according to his expertise and judgment. How can physicians possibly stomach putting his patients at risk when he once promised that he will prioritize their health and wellness?
