Pay For Performance Is Coming
I've made light of the fact that doing tons of procedures is NOT exactly the best way to provide care for your patients.
If you read the internet enough (also the place that brought you to us here at Medicaljobs.org) then you will have discovered that there are lots of different opinions on what needs to happen in order for healthcare to be reformed. One of the things that seem to be universal is the need for performance-based pay in healthcare.
How does this affect you if you are looking to work as something OTHER than a Doctor? Well, nursing, imaging, aides, and therapists are all about to be subject to patient feedback. Sometimes people have written off "rough beside manner" as a simple personality trait when, in fact, it can put off some patients when it may not be intended.
If you are thinking of working directly with patients: Nursingz, Hygienists, Aides, etc. then you need to be ready to have you direct impact on patients recorded in your paychecks and raises.
A performance review that is more than regular will be the new norm as the insurance companies work VERY hard to make sure you are doing right by patients. They will have to if healthcare reform is passed because they may be required to pay based on how well you treat patients.
If you think about it then you'll realize that even IF you believe that healthcare reform will NOT be passed it may come "to pass" that the place you may want to work will handle your paycheck in a "pay for performance" way. Why? Well, they will want to be ahead of the curve when it comes to being "modern" in medicine.
It happens all the time with car companies and department stores so why wouldn't it happen in medicine. This doesn't mean that someone will be looking over your shoulder 24 hours a day, but it does mean that a sweet personality is a good thing.
Sometimes we see people who are very sweet as "pushovers" or "not very tough". Well, the sweetest of all of us may end up making the most money because of their sunny disposition. Are you the "sunny" type who wants to work with people?
If you make your way into medicine with your "best Disney-attitude" then you may be on the cutting edge of increased performance-based pay as the nation's healthcare system braces for more and more change. The change is eminent, but you can easily find a way into work by having the winning "personality" just as much as you have the winning credentials.
Healthcare is a "tender" thing and it should be treated as such while our President and Congress try to make the system better for patients.
