The Mcdonaldization in Health Care

According to George Ritzer, bureaucracy completely dehumanized the social institutions in America. He sees the bureaucracy as having four components: efficiency, predictability, control and quantification. He terms this dehumanization of an institution as "McDonaldization". One of the most prevalent examples in modern society is the health care institution. In the past, health care was more simplistic in nature. House calls were not unheard of, and doctors knew all of their patients and their families on a personal level. The doctor who delivered your parents would deliver you as well as your future children. Follow-ups were quite normal; doctors were concerned with your progress for their own peace of mind. It is only recently that the health care system has emerged as the McDonalized bureaucratic organization that it is today. All the characteristics of bureaucracy that Ritzer mentions in his book are plain to see when one looks into the modern health care system. From something simple like a trip to your doctor for check-up to an urgent trip to the emergency room; it's not hard to find predictability, control, efficiency, and quantification engrained in every aspect of health care. McDonaldization is irrevocably changing healthcare. Quantification is easily observed when you arrive in a hospital waiting room and a big sign gives you a number before you are able to make any type of human contact. After waiting for a good bit of time your number is finally called, and before you are able to anything else, you must first present the receptionist with your insurance card. Only after doing this can you be given your file number, which during the time you spend within the hospital is your only identity. After you see the doctor, you come out with a prescription or two, a process that only serves to further your nameless, dehumanized ordeal. When you go into a pharmacy to have a prescription filled the first thing the pharmacist asks you is if you know the