> but then the added productivity is used to justify fewer on-staff nurses

Lower staffing levels per unit of care performed makes medical care cheaper for patients. If the goal of a healthcare system is to make healthcare more accessible (rather than be a jobs program), that's a success.

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lbreakjai 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

If, and that's a huge if, the savings are actually passed on to the customers rather than the capital owners.

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submain 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Which is why we need competition. Which is almost non-existent in US healthcare as comparing prices is near impossible.

	▲	lbreakjai 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The incumbents can just swallow the competition and consolidate further. The end state of crony capitalism is always a monopoly.

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dgellow 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Or any of the middlemen

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jackdaniel 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Lowering prices or raising wages due to increased productivity is not a given, and often does not follow. There is more to pocket by shareholders though.

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bpodgursky 9 hours ago | parent [-]

So it's OK to roll out AI to nurses in the NHS and Canada? Their hospitals don't have shareholders, so that's a minimum baseline that meets all of your goals.

	▲	jackdaniel 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I did not state any goals, I've only falsified your naive claim.

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teeray 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> makes medical care cheaper for patients

I think you misspelled “increases profit margins for hospitals” if you’re talking about US healthcare.

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pasquinelli 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Lower staffing levels per unit of care performed makes medical care cheaper for patients.

yeah yeah, sure sure

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leto_ii 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Lower staffing levels per unit of care performed makes medical care cheaper for patients.

Based on how neoliberal capitalism tends to work it will simply lead to more profits for hospitals etc.