McDonaldization and the Health System: A Study of the Impact of the Four Principles of McDonaldization on the Health System

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Literature & Humanities, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

Abstract

McDonaldization is a way in which social actions and ways of organizing are increasingly driven by hyperrationality. And the persistence of hyperrationality provides producers, consumers, and managers with more efficient, computable, predictable, and controlled means to achieve their goals. In this study, the four principles of McDonaldization in relation to changes in the health system are examined. Findings indicate that conscious or unconscious macdonalization of the health care system has affected the health system in different ways and has caused the health care system to revolve around four principles of efficiency, calcutability, predictability and inhumane technologies. To take. Efficiency has led to the formation of minute clinics, completion of questionnaires by patients, extended use of medical assistants, robotic surgery and short visit with physicians. Based on the principle of calculability of receiving health care by patients is a function of cost and financial return to the system and issues such as length of stay and patient admission are considered. The principle of predictability has also caused the whole treatment process from the patient to enter the medical centers to leave it, according to a precise and pre-predicted instruction, which has led to more pressure on physicians to treat all patients equally. Based on the principle of control, nonhumane technologies have begun to become more involved in health care. Electronic medical records have controlled interactions between physicians and patients, and the replacement of technology has eliminated customer satisfaction and increased inefficiency.

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References

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Two Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Sociological Research
Volume 11, Issue 20
December 2022
Pages 173-195

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