Cedric Meyerowitz wrote:
Oliver Frank wrote:
That is *not* the only real difference. The important real difference that
you are neglecting is that the directors of commercial software vendors have
an obligation under company law to make as much profit as legally possible
for the owners of the business. They usually aim to achieve this by
charging the highest possible prices that the largest possible number of
customers is willing to pay.
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Now Doctors are in the same boat. Large number of GP's charge what they
think patients will pay and in some areas don't care because there is a
months wait to see the GP. Specialists also charge what they want because
the patients are still paying.
I didn't say that there was anything wrong with commercial people in any
business (in this case, commercial messaging providers) charging as much
as they can. This is perfectly normal and expected commercial
behaviour. I had believed that it is even mandated by law in Australia.
Tom Bowden believes that it is not. I am currently trying to find
out, and if I was wrong, will be happy to admit it.
For better or worse, because GPs in our health system in their own
practices don't the option of being salaried, we are forced to run our
practices as a kind of business, if we want to earn a living. This
naturally leads some of us to charge as much as we can, which for most
of us still results in incomes far below those that we could have earned
in any other profession or business. What is interesting and proves
that doctors are not running their practices as normal businesses (that
is, with the aim of maximising profit by all legal means) is that those
of us who could charge a lot more than we currently do, especially rural
GPs, don't do so, either because maximising income is not their first
aim, or because they wish for humanitarian reasons to provide an
essential service at the lowest price that provides the income with
which they are happy.
In summary, if you're in a "normal" business, your aim is
self-enrichment. If you're in medical practice, your aim may be the
same, but some of what you do may not be in your patients' best
interests. For many doctors, the best interests of the patient still
come before self-enrichment.
--
Oliver Frank, general practitioner
255 North East Road, Hampstead Gardens, South Australia 5086
Phone 08 8261 1355 Fax 08 8266 5149 Mobile 0407 181 683
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