On the east coast of Brazil, in a town like any other here, there is a medical clinic a block from my house. But this clinic is so lacking in equipment essential to American medical care, that it would never be allowed to function in the United States. It has no insurance forms, no cash registers, and no credit card swipers. All medical care at this clinic is free.
Recently, an American tourist became ill here and I reluctantly took him to this medical center, even though it is woefully unequipped to practice mediconomics as it is practiced in the United States. My worst fears were confirmed by the brevity and superficiality of the intake interview.
They did not even ask the tourist whether he was employed, did not care about his income or insurance or payment method! They simply asked him his name, age and address and then whisked him in to see a doctor! Moments later, he emerged with a smile on his face and a prescription for his illness.
But then I saw another instance of serious malpractice. The tourist was allowed to leave with no discussion whatsoever of paying for his treatment. I've heard of leaving a sponge in a patient's chest, but imagine leaving ALL of the money in a patient's pockets! In most American clinics, a doctor or nurse would be summarily fired for such a serious and obvious oversight.
But, what do you expect from a Third World country, right? It's natural that they would be backward by American standards. Perhaps, if the Bush Administration weren't so busy in Iraq, it could send some economists to Brazil to help reform and modernize Brazilian medicine. With enough cash registers and credit card swipers, insurance forms and a team of telemarketing agents, perhaps Brazil's state-funded medical clinics might learn to practice medicine the right way - the American way.