Pay Doctors Less And They Will Work Less
Really? A recent article in The Washington Post by Carla K. Johnson points out that doctors have steadily cut their work hours over the last decade, largely in response to a decline in pay for doctors' services.
"It's not that doctors are terrible slackers. Average hours dropped from about 55 to 51 hours per week from 1996 to 2008, according to the analysis, appearing in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
That's the equivalent of losing 36,000 doctors in a decade, according to the researchers."
Is it just me, or does this headline belong with that group of newspaper clippings routinely deadpanned by Jay Leno, e.g.: "Obesity Study Blames Overeating," or "Police Raid Gun Shop - Find Weapons."
I suspect the same headline would occur if the circumstances applied to lawyers, teachers, auto mechanics, construction workers or anyone else used to being paid for what they do. As our leaders in Washington debate the various ways to pay doctors even less, keep this headline in mind when planning your next negotiation.
[Image: "A Very Difficult Case," c. 1905]
