Via Aaron Carroll, a new survey of doctors reports that 42% of them think they’re overtreating their patients. But why are they overtreating their patients? The top answers were fear of malpractice suits, mandated performance measures, and too little time with patients. Aaron finds all three unlikely and then adds this:
Notice what’s not in the top reasons? Money. Could it be that doctors might practice more aggressively because when they do, they make more? Well, only 3% believed that financial considerations could influence their own practice. Most, however, thought that other physicians would be affected by such things.
I’m sure doctors aren’t alone here. We’re all pretty sure that other people are motivated by grubby concerns like money and status and power, but we’re equally sure that our own motivations are always pure and humanitarian. See, for example, both sides of every political fight ever in the history of the world.
Anyway, Aaron says in a followup post that more than a few doctors were pissed off about his suggestion that money influences their decisons. I don’t blame them. Still, the rest of us should probably assume that money does indeed influence them, just like it influences every other human being on the planet. As usual, doctors are pretty good at diagnosing others, but not so good at diagnosing themselves.