posted on February 20, 2004 11:00:39 AM new Who would have "thunk" it?
While the rise in unemployment in the USA appears to have slowed, the economic forces driving jobs overseas have not gone away. There is little comfort yet for American workers.
And if Indians on the sub-continent have their way, then a new round of unemployment is on its way. This time, however, it is not computer professionals who will lose their jobs. It is members of the medical profession.
Initially this seems unlikely. Why, of all the professions, is the medical fraternity under threat? Why not auto workers, computer programmers, clothes makers, or manufacturing workers? And why will India be the cause of medical worker unemployment?
It appears there are some enterprising Indians. The USA is not the only home to entrepreneurship. Profit-making businesses are springing up in India just as they do elsewhere, and medical centres can be just as much a profit-centre as any other business.
Consequently, a number of Indian medical centres have realised that not only can they offer medical services to the locals, but there is a market for tourists who not only want to travel but have their medical or dental needs attended to while on vacation.
Imagine some dental work that costs $1,000 at home. In India it might cost you $100. So for the same $1,000 you could travel half way around the world as a sight-seer while having the dental problem attended to at the same time.
But it’s not just dental work the Indians have in mind. They know that to have brain surgery in the US or anywhere else in the western world costs $75,000-$100,000. In India the same procedure costs a mere $4,000.
Now, to be sure, the Indians are not going to replace all the local medical centres. Emergency centres will continue to provide on the spot emergency care.
But what will be appealing to many is the ability to significantly reduce their non-emergency medical bills by tripping off to the sub-continent for a well-earned holiday and getting their medical needs attended to at ten cents on the dollar when compared to prices back home.
The Indians know they are onto a winning system. They have seen that at the end of the day consumers in American and elsewhere will take lower prices from India rather than keep paying workers back home to stay in their jobs. And since America is a nation of consumers, we can expect they will choose to consume at lower prices in India on an increasing basis.
So if I were a medical worker, I would start to expect to be replaced by lower-priced Indian workers and start looking for another career. Or hope that wage disparities somehow soon disappear so that the incentive to get cheaper prices abroad abates and workers in the USA get a chance to show what they can really do.
posted on February 20, 2004 02:49:32 PM newAt some point quality would have to kick in...
With all the Indian doctors already qualified and practicing here, why would quality be a problem in India ? Apparently India is producing US quality doctors.
Combining vacations and cheap medical care is an interesting idea.
If they bill you as a package deal, you could even deduct it from your income taxes if you spend enough.
Just think-- free airfare and room and board for your $2000 operation or dental work.
posted on February 20, 2004 04:49:48 PM new
I watched a program, recently, but don't know if it was a re-run or not, that showed many of our CAT scans, MRI's, mamograms, all kinds of radiology films are already being read by doctors over in India.
Don't think we're going to be able to stop these practices, no matter who's in office though.
Haven't seen anyone offering any suggestions on how to stop this new trend either.
edited to add: Some of the Indian doctors, that I worked around, at an HMO in CA had not taken the tests that our doctors here have to pass. Maybe they were going to at some point, but I overheard many doctors complaining they shouldn't be allowed to practice UNTIL they did.
Re-elect President Bush!!
[ edited by Linda_K on Feb 20, 2004 04:52 PM ]
posted on February 20, 2004 04:58:59 PM new
"With all the Indian doctors already qualified and practicing here, why would quality be a problem in India ? Apparently India is producing US quality doctors."
There is some concern about a brain drain as the better doctors move or may be recruited to the U.S. Also too few doctors are left in India to deal with the population.
posted on February 20, 2004 05:04:36 PM new
the foreign doctors who practice here,as far as i know and seek out for treatment are all us educated and passed our tests.
i know the drug store pharmacists are contract workers from india,eckerd,costco,walgreen all have them.
yes,they are sending our mri etc to india via emails and other means of delivery.
but dont we have this for a long time,people go to mexico for dental work and prescription drug,people go to argentina for plastic surgery??
india is too far away,i dont think i want to travel that far to get medical treatment,it could easily take 40 hours to get there.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
