George Ritzer: The Dehumanization Of Healthcare

George Ritzer is known for coming up with the idea that bureaucracy completely dehumanized the social institutions in America. He later termed this dehumanization Mcdonaldization. The four parts that belong to this idea are: efficiency, predictability, quantification, and control. One of the best examples we see of this in society is in the healthcare system, which is exactly what my job falls under. Healthcare used to be so simple, but we have made it much more complex and we can clearly see each of the four aspects of Ritzer’s concept in our health care system.
For example, efficiency is very prominent in healthcare. Before you can even visit the doctor, you have to call ahead and schedule your appointment at a time that is convenient for …show more content…
If you have to visit the emergency department, whether it is for something serious, or just because it's the middle of the night and you cannot wait until the next morning, the doctors and nurses have complete control. There is usually a triage nurse located somewhere in an office by the front desk of the emergency department. That nurse determines who will be seen in what order. If that isn’t control, I’m not sure what is. The doctors follow the same basic concept, even after you have been taken back, the doctors will choose which patient they will see based on what they think is the most severe issue. Essentially, the doctors get to control which patient gets care sooner rather than later and it could be a matter of life or …show more content…
We go to the doctors office and what is the first thing we have to do? We have to sign in, and show our insurance cards to the receptionist. After sitting for a while, the nurse calls us back and takes our vitals and sets us in the doctor’s room (all predictable aspects of a doctors visit). The doctor pops in, asks what the issue is and after a brief dialogue lays down some blanket statement like “drink lots of water and get plenty of rest” or something of that nature. The doctor might give you some sort of prescription where you will hear the same “ don’t mix with alcohol, these are the side effects, make sure you complete the prescription in it’s entirety” blurb that you have just about every time you go to the pharmacy.
The way that the healthcare system has become is completely irrational. An example of this irrationality is when you schedule an appointment; you expect to be seen at your appointment time. However, we are often times sitting in the waiting room for the doctor to finish with his patients before you can be seen. The doctor is either late to work, or has taken more time with a patient than he was expecting, so we have to suffer and the vicious cycle