Should Competition Take Place in Healthcare Research Paper

Should Competition Take Place in Healthcare - Research Paper Example On the other hand, many others argue that no segregation is necessary for healthcare industry from other industries and competition may increase the quality of the healthcare services and products delivered.   Michael Porter and Elizabeth Teisberg in 2004, argued that â€Å"competition takes place at the wrong level in the healthcare industry: the level of health plans, networks, and hospital groups† instead of â€Å"level of diagnosis and treatment of individuals’ diseases† (Enthoven & Tollen, 2005). For example, the health insurance sector in America is dominated by private people even though governmental intervention is there for namesake. The greedy private insurance people always try to increase their profits which will increase the competition among the private insurance business people rather than at the level of diseases and treatments. The unhealthy competition among the healthcare insurance people actually denies the rights of the patients. Insurance companies can influence the doctors who treat the patients. Attracted by the offers and promises provided by the insurance companies, doctors may not prescribe expensive medicines or treatment options for the pat ients who have taken private insurance. Thus unhealthy competition among insurance providers may result in patients getting inadequate care even if they have the insurance protection. â€Å"Some employer groups advocate ‘system to system’ competition, in which physicians are forced to commit to one closed network or another. This actually limits competition at the level of diseases and treatments† (Enthoven & Tollen, 2005).  Ã‚