Civil Society/Medicine

From From Dusk till Jawn
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Medicine

"Hospitals will quote prices for parking, not procedures."
The Chicago Tribune

 There are over 30 hospitals in Philadelphia proper, excluding entirely the satellite hospitals in the suburbs of Montgomery and Bucks counties. Most of these are owned by one of the large health care corporations which dominate the region. Many are operated on behalf of various religious groups, and still more are operated under the auspices of one of the many local universities. Health Care is big business in the Philadelphia region with companies like Merck and Johnson & Johnson developing drugs in the suburbs, and sprawling health care companies snatching up hospitals across the region in order to 'streamline care' which is typically corporate speak for maximizing profits.

 Several universities in the region feature teaching and research hospitals where cutting edge procedures and technologies are being developed, and the city itself is home to the first hospital in the country dedicated solely to the care of children at the now famous Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Overall, the quality of care is quite exceptional on an in-patient basis, while out-patient care and Emergency Room care are subject to all the ills of the US healthcare system. Long waits, mistreatment by doctors and staff, and poor outcomes.

 People across the region need care and cannot afford it. This leads to forestalled treatment that makes chronic conditions into acute episodes, clogging the emergency rooms and leading to shoddy health outcomes, mounting medical debts, and loss of revenue for the hospitals themselves. In short, Philadelphia's health care infrastructure is symptomatic of the national need for immediate and profound health care reform.

Rules and System

 Status in Philadelphia's Medical industry reflects your ability to influence policy, your ability to extend or withhold care, your proximity to medical research, your ability to access, reveal, or suppress medical records, and your access to facilities and infrastructure. The industry is highly competitive, and corporate health care providers are constantly seeking to acquire control of independent hospitals across the region. If you don't exert influence over your little corner of the industry, odds are it won't be yours for much longer.
  • Status 1: Medical Student, Intern, Physician's Assistant, Nurse
  • Status 2: General Practitioner, ER Resident
  • Status 3: Specialist Doctor, Research Doctor
  • Status 4: Dean of Hospital, Specialist Surgeon
  • Status 5: Health Care Executive, Chairman of a Hospital Board

Joining the Sphere

 You can enter play with Medicine Status or develop it during play, though the likely time scale of the game will make acquiring an actual medical degree problematic if you don't begin play as a medical student. Consideration should be given both to where you want to start, and where you hope for your character to end up. You can't really 'fast track' medical school or a residency, especially not in the highly competitive Philadelphia market. So keep that in mind!

 If you're going to portray an actual health care professional in play, you should keep the following stat suggestions in mind.

  • Intelligence, Composure
  • Medicine, Science, Academics, Empathy, Persuasion

Theme and Society

 Maybe you're a healthcare executive bent on bleeding every penny from your network of providers. Perhaps you're an exhausted and overworked orderly, just trying to ease the suffering of your patients and pay for your own insulin. Maybe you're a doctor dedicated to delivering the very best outcomes for your patients, but caught in a web of bureaucratic red tape and insurance billing nightmares. The point is, the state of medicine in the Delaware Valley is a microcosm that reflects the state of health care in america. It's expensive, full of promise and potential, but hamstrung by corporate interests and governmental neglect. Depending on your position within that web, you can struggle in your own way to push that situation one way or another one patient at a time.

 While there is a great deal of competition in health care, it's mostly among administrators and executives vying for control of networks and institutions. With so many hospitals, medical campuses, and offices opening around the region there is a tremendous shortage of qualified nurses and doctors. Even middle of the road graduates are virtually guaranteed work upon graduation. So down in the trenches, things can be quite cooperative and collegial. For the most part, caregivers actually do care about their patients. It's the industry, the bureaucracy, and the money that gets in the way.

 So what brings you in today?

Current Plots

TBD