British surgeons to get bonus each time they save a patient’s life
July 24, 2008 by Fred HosierPosted in: Dubious decisions, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, That's how they do it in ______
The best bonus programs created by HR reward employees for meeting goals. But that doesn’t mean every goal-oriented bonus program is a good thing.
Take, for example, a proposal by Imperial College Healthcare Trust in London, England. It wants to give cash bonuses to surgeons for saving lives.
Britain’s largest hospital trust also proposes cash rewards for every time a patient leaves a hospital without picking up an infection, and other rewards would be given for cost-effectiveness.
The Trust is looking into a pilot program which would start with just one operation performed by a particular surgical team.
The Patients Association is concerned the bonus program would discourage operations on higher risk populations such as the elderly. It also says doctors have a duty to provide the best treatment for patients without receiving cash incentives on top of their salaries.
The British Medical Association calls the plan “too simplistic.”
The pilot program might start later this year.
Does this take bonus programs too far? Tell us what you think.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I believe that any bonus plan that potentially promotes unwanted behavior(s) is not a good one. Perhaps the incentive criteria for this bonus would not include the elderly patient population and at the same time, develop an incentive plan that encourages surgeons to maximize their efforts to save the lives of elderly patients as well, ensuring that one incentive does not cancel out the efforts of the other.
Both plans would have to be rolled out at the same time.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Doctors take an oath to work always for the good of the patients to the best of their abilities, i.e. save their lives. This is their job. Being paid a bonus to perform the basics of your job is ridiculous. Should we pay bonuses to bank tellers every time they balance their cash drawers, or a bonus to a carpenter for every nail he sets straight?
July 25th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I agree completely with Lauren. First of all, why should someone receive a bonus for doing what they have already agreed to do? Secondly, if doctors feel they need or deserve monetary incentives to do their best, they should definitely not be practicing a healing art.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I think it’s demeaning to doctors, implying that they won’t do the best they can to save a patient’s life unless they get paid. The goal would be better served to take that money and apply it to preventitive health care, then reward the people who help lower cholesterol, weight, etc.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I think that a bonus program like this is totally inappropiate. The job of a doctor has been the same since the beginning of time, which is save lives. That is the goal of doctors, of course they are not able to save everyone, but nevertheless, like Merry said, why should they receive a bonus for something that they took an oath to do? They are not going above or beyond the call of duty, they are simply there to save lives, to help others and that is what they should do.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:02 am
This is ludicrous. It sounds as if patients routinely leave hospitals with infections. I have done so twice and both infections were life threatening. It should be the goal of a hospital and the medical professionals who are employed by the hospital to keep the environment sterile so that infections do not abound. In both of my cases, my doctors did the best that they could for me. They should be thanksed as I did thank them but they should not receive bonuses.