There is no doubt that money occupies one of the essential roles in world history. In medicine, for example, financial resources determine what services patients can obtain and how developed the health care industry is. However, when money becomes the most significant phenomenon, adverse consequences can emerge. Arnold Relman addresses this situation and calls it the medical-industrial complex, meaning that the health care system cares more about profit-making than curing the disease. Thus, the principal purpose of this paper is to explain how a greater focus on financial resources can influence health care delivery.
In his statement, Relman insists on the fact that medicine acquired significant political and economic power in the late 20th century. It could not but influence the way health care was delivered, and medical services were provided to patients to obtain profit (Warner & Tighe, 2001). Furthermore, Warner and Tighe (2001) mention that Relman emphasized the fact that the number of proprietary hospitals and nursing homes increased significantly. In theory, that state of affairs should have contributed to market competition and better service for patients, but it did not happen. Commercialized medical facilities implied severe problems, including “elimination of low-frequency and unprofitable (though necessary) services and exclusion of unprofitable patients” (Warner & Tighe, 2001, p. 465). Consequently, investor-owned medical businesses resulted in the fact that it became more challenging for numerous citizens to get access to medical services.
In conclusion, it is impossible to imagine how the health care industry could operate without regard to money. However, it is necessary to control the fact that profit-making should not become the main driving force here. If it happens, the focus will be shifted from the patients’ well-being to money, which will result in essential issues. Thus, the health care system should keep the needs of patients and society first.
References
Warner, J. H., & Tighe, J. A. (2001). Major problems in the history of American medicine and public health: documents and essays. Houghton Mifflin.