Has the Outpatient Drug Treatment Florida Industry Become a Pay to Play field; thus sacrificing patient care? |
Posted: November 19, 2012 |
What has happened to the compassion and empathy in the outpatient drug treatment industry? The influx of marketing hounds seeking a handout and sending patients to the highest bidder are absolutely atrocious, unethical and destroying the industry. “Patient care” is becoming a thing of the past and a novelty that is unfortunately a sparse finding of yesterday. Outpatient drug treatment Florida must begin to remember why healthcare professionals chose their calling in the first place…to help those in need and offer the highest quality treatment available. Individuals seeking outpatient drug treatment deserve to have evidence-based treatment whereby the drug treatment center is accountable for and offers accurate data for potential customers to evaluate. Recently, Sober Living Outpatient, an outpatient drug treatment in Florida was approached by a marketer from a distinguished inpatient drug treatment center whereby he stated “If you are willing to pay me personally 10% of the fees you collect on behalf of our patients, we refer, you will get every referral we have.” When the marketer was told that under no circumstance would Sober Living Outpatient drug treatment pay for referrals and that patient care and placing the patient in the best possible environment was our goal, the marketer replied, “I guess our facility will make a corporate decision to send our patient’s elsewhere.”Thus, it is obvious that decisions regarding patient care are decided on the ability of the drug treatment center or willingness of the drug treatment center, to pay to play. Unfortunately, the landscape of outpatient drug treatment in Florida and the rest of the country are marred by the reality of paying for patients. Not only is this unethical, it is a disservice to unsuspecting patients and their families who desperate to find drug treatment for their loved ones. The factors that should be considered are as follows:
The above questions are fair and should be asked by every family member who is seeking drug treatment for their family member. Patient care should be the number one goal and focus of the outpatient drug treatment center. Obviously, the outpatient drug treatment industry is a business; however, ideals such as support, empathy, caring, support and finding a way to assist clients who want help should be the primary focus. Allowing unscrupulous marketers that are not clinically trained and have very little clinical experience in treating patients to make treatment decisions is a serious breach of the Code of Ethics that the industry espouses to live by. It should be noted, that not all marketers fit within this category given that a very high percentage of these individuals seek to do what is best for their client regardless of the financial gain or lack thereof involved. However, unfortunately, the unscrupulous marketers in the drug treatment industry are typically the loudest and most boisterous and cause the greatest degree of mistrust present in the industry. The bottom line is that patient care must be the overriding principle in outpatient drug treatment referrals and placement.
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