“When we look at ourselves, we become sad, but when we compare ourselves, we console ourselves,” says the adage.
· Read also: A doctor in 30 minutes in the emergency room: welcome to one of the best health systems in the world… which was inspired by Canada
· Read also: Doctors see up to 60 patients per half day in Taiwan
Maybe that’s true for some things.
But when it comes to the health system, it’s the opposite.
When we compare ourselves, we get discouraged.
Why in some countries is it easy to have access to free (or inexpensive) health care while here, it’s the cross and the banner?
What have these countries understood that we don’t understand?
Photo Courtesy Rémy Bourdillon
THE C-WORD
You have read the fascinating file that The newspaper published on the healthcare system in Taiwan?
Things are going well over there, my hen.
No tattooing.
Do you need to see a doctor? You see one.
Waiting time in hospital emergency rooms is a few minutes.
You read that right: minutes. And not hours.
Crazy, right?
And how did the Taiwanese manage to accomplish this miracle?
By embracing a word that, in Quebec, is considered taboo, vile, toxic, harmful and terrible.
A word which, when pronounced out loud, causes epileptic seizures in certain circles.
The C word.
Competition.
In Taiwan, funding for each health facility varies depending on the number of patients treated.
The more patients you treat, the more money you will receive from the government.
And what are these facilities doing to improve their performance (another terrible word!) and treat more patients?
- Listen to the Martineau – Dutrizac meeting between Benoît Dutrizac and Richard Martineau via QUB :
THEY OPEN EVENINGS AND WEEKENDS!
The longer they are open, the more patients they treat and the more money they receive!
And the more money they receive, the more they can modernize their equipment, expand their premises, hire staff… and treat even more patients!
This is the Hygrade law applied to the health system!
The more patients a facility treats, the more people visit it, the more people visit it, the more money it receives and the more patients it can treat!
It makes sense, right?
Competition encourages individuals and institutions to surpass themselves!
To improve!
To provide better services!
Do you know what it’s called?
No, not “capitalism” (all health establishments there are financed by the government and the law prohibits making a profit from health).
It’s called “knowledge of human nature.”
Nothing worse than the absence of competition to encourage stagnation.
A PATIENT-CENTRIC SYSTEM
Does this force doctors to work at a faster pace? Yes.
But at least citizens can see a doctor! They don’t wait a year before having a consultation!
The system there is not focused on doctors, but on patients!
Yes, but if we force them to work too quickly, as is the case in Taiwan, our doctors will leave their jobs!
Do you know how many doctors there are per 1000 inhabitants in Quebec? 2.5.
And how many are there in Taiwan? 2.5.
The same ratio.
There are no such things as perfect systems.
But systems better than ours, yes, there are some.
And we should be inspired by it.