Even though healthcare services are considered one of the most essential needs of human beings, they tend to be quite expensive when private companies offer them. I believe that in spite of some advantages, their drawbacks overtake benefits.
On the one hand, private hospitals have a variety of advantages in terms of the quality of services and equipment. For instance, in Azerbaijan private medical centers have invested in the latest innovative technology, while in the others a majority of pieces of equipment are outdated. This, in turn, profoundly impacts the treatment of diseases and the recovery process. Moreover, medical staff is more professional there compared to state hospitals. They keep the record of primary variations in a patient’s health condition and take care of them.
On the other hand, private medical centers have a wide range of downsides such as high costs, limited accessibility, and even sometimes negative reputation. As opposed to state hospitals, prices of the service offered by private healthcare facilities are twice as much. Consequently, people who are not able to afford these services are deprive of having access to them. Furthermore, the number of these hospitals are quite limited in contrast to others funded by the government. For instance, in some villages of Shamkir there is not any private hospital where residents can go. In addition, some of medical amenities try to avoid taking responsibilities about the result of surgery procedures, raising concerns about how reliable they are. To illustrate, Diamed, a renowned private hospital in Azerbaijan, rejected to give guarantee about the potential consequence of the medical procedure two years ago, causing a significant damage to its own reputation.
In conclusion, although high-quality medical services are offered by private medical centers, its downsides, including being cost-effective, the lack of accessibility in the countryside, outweigh the positive sides.