In Israel, the family doctors do very simple diagnosis and routine prescriptions.
Specialists are easily accessible (no referral required, generally an appointment is available within a few days) for more sophisticated diagnosis. Advanced specialists are easily available with a longer wait.
Surgeons do surgery.
Waits are shorter than many countries. Good health care is provided to everyone rich or poor, but there is also private supplementary insurance and private medical care for those who want to do the Hansonite “excess medical care as a signal” thing.
It’s not paradise, but based on experience of myself and friends and family members a heck of a lot better for members of all economic classes.
Coming from the United States originally, it’s actually quite a pleasant surprise how simple and easy to work with the Israeli health-care system is, as opposed to almost any other part of Israeli public services and to American health-care.
On the other hand, performance of family doctors is often poor, salaries in medical professions are low and the system is fraught with internal politics.
performance of family doctors is often poor, salaries in medical professions are low and
That’s good! Routine procedures should be done at low cost.
In the US, doctors get huge salaries, which is nice for them, and not nice for everyone else.
Performance may be poor—but compared to what? If routine services are cheap, quick, easy to get, then you can move on to specialized care as needed.
(I sometimes feel kind of sorry for the family doctors, whose work is completely routinized. In the US, non-physicians such as nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants sometimes do this work. But as a system, this works nicely for the patients.)
In Israel, the family doctors do very simple diagnosis and routine prescriptions.
Specialists are easily accessible (no referral required, generally an appointment is available within a few days) for more sophisticated diagnosis. Advanced specialists are easily available with a longer wait.
Surgeons do surgery.
Waits are shorter than many countries. Good health care is provided to everyone rich or poor, but there is also private supplementary insurance and private medical care for those who want to do the Hansonite “excess medical care as a signal” thing.
It’s not paradise, but based on experience of myself and friends and family members a heck of a lot better for members of all economic classes.
Coming from the United States originally, it’s actually quite a pleasant surprise how simple and easy to work with the Israeli health-care system is, as opposed to almost any other part of Israeli public services and to American health-care.
On the other hand, performance of family doctors is often poor, salaries in medical professions are low and the system is fraught with internal politics.
That’s good! Routine procedures should be done at low cost.
In the US, doctors get huge salaries, which is nice for them, and not nice for everyone else.
Performance may be poor—but compared to what? If routine services are cheap, quick, easy to get, then you can move on to specialized care as needed.
(I sometimes feel kind of sorry for the family doctors, whose work is completely routinized. In the US, non-physicians such as nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants sometimes do this work. But as a system, this works nicely for the patients.)