Price versus Quality and Responsibility

When consumers are interested in a service, they consider the quality relative to the price. Cost is becoming the major influencing factor when selecting a service, but is this the safest method of selection, particularly if it involves your health?

A service is almost never cheaper if it doesn’t work, requires re-doing or causes complications soon after the purchase! Ideally, quality should take precedence over cost. With healthcare, the stakes are higher as poor treatment can lead to irreversible harm. To avoid this, determine the actual expertise of the person providing the service. Ask yourself, who will take responsibility when things do not go to plan? Also, does the provider have an alternative solution? Confidence in the delivery of treatment is far more important than the dollar cost.

Silencing the Dissenters

As orthodontists and healthcare professionals, we take our responsibility of educating the public seriously. It sometimes means that quacks and snake-oil salespeople do not welcome our opinions. These days, threats of litigation for defamation are being used to silence anyone who dares offer a contrary view on any product, and the health industry is no exception! Such threats are intended to keep the consumer both uninformed and vulnerable. Selling snake-oil can be a lucrative business, over which they are very protective. Contemporary snake-oil salespeople often use a classic two-hit combination. They are happy to take consumers’ money and ‘kindly’ serve legal letters to cautioners that try to warn you about their product. Instead of logical scientific debate, they attempt to scare cautioners into silence. Even with the support of good quality independent scientific evidence, by the time the legal system has vindicated their stance, the cautioner’s only likely ‘rewards’ are bankruptcy, poor health and stress.

What is Truly Important?

Many people state that the essential things in life are your health, your family and your home. Even if the quoted price was impressively low, very few people would trust someone to build their home if their only training was a weekend course or DIY video. Should the healthcare of your family be any different?

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You may wish to ask yourself these final questions:

• What and who is an expert?
• Is what I’m hearing sound too good to be true?
• Is advice from the internet equal to that of a trained professional?
• Can a computer truly replace a caring clinician?
• Is price more important than confidence in your practitioner and their expertise?
• What price do you put on your or your family’s health?

“Whenever doctors cannot do good, they must be kept from doing harm.” Hippocrates (460BC – 370BC)

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Dr Paul Hanrahan, Orthodontist
Townsville Orthodontic Specialists