Transparency is becoming an integral aspect in healthcare considering the many other medical practice options that people have. Thus, when doctors and other medical practitioners begin to think of how to market their services, transparency is one of the issues that crops up. For this case, the task is to present the pros and cons of transparency to a group of young cardiologists who developed their own website from scratch.
Becoming transparent means providing prospective patients the information about certain illnesses that they might have and placing these information on the website for all people to see. This includes posting the prices for each procedure so patients are aware about possible medical expenses that they might incur (Hostetter & Klein). There is also the belief that by doing so, it can help lower costs and improve the quality of service groups of doctors provide their clients with. It is believed that transparency can be a "powerful driver of accountability" (Henke, Kelsey, & Whately, 2011, p. 66), because through it, doctors become more careful on the procedures knowing that their activities may be posted on the website. Another important aspect of transparency is "choice" because people are free to choose the kind of medical attention they want from health professionals.
While some sectors of society believe that transparency is good, some suppose that it also has negative effects. For one, when patient data records are shared with other doctors, there is the possibility that medical professionals will choose only those cases that they think would pose lesser risks for the company. In addition, transparency could lead to doctors padding or changing actual results in order to increase the company's sales and revenue results (Henke, Kelsey, & Whately, 2011, p. 72). Thus, instead of placing importance on a patient's welfare, medical practitioners could ignore the patients' needs and focus on how they could improve the medical practice's image.
References
Henke, N., Kelsey, T., & Whately, H. (2011). Transparency – the most powerful driver of health care improvement. Health International. Retrieved from http://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CC4QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mckinsey.com%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fmckinsey%2Fdotcom%2Fclient_service%2Fhealthcare%2520systems%2520and%2520services%2Fhealth%2520international%2Fissue%252011%2520new%2520pdfs%2Fhi11_64%2520transparency_noprint.ashx&ei=5KggUp2WBIiEiAfB0YCoDA&usg=AFQjCNFOyNq7PXbyRlIRTijvO3RTthfLKQ&bvm=bv.51495398,d.cGE
Hostetter, M., & Klein, S. (2012). Health care price transparency: Can it promote high-value care. The Commonwealth Fund. Retrieved from http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Newsletters/Quality-Matters/2012/April-May/In-Focus.aspx
