Archive for August, 2009
Friday, August 28th, 2009
Here are the top five procedure groups where a savvy consumer can sometimes cut cost by up to 80% of the market norm:
1. Heart Catheterization
2. Labor / Delivery
3. Outpatient Gastro-Intestinal Procedures (Colonoscopies / Endoscopies)
4. Advanced Imaging (MRI / CT Scan)
5. Back Surgeries
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Occasionally you will see a healthcare expert try to make the point that universal healthcare coverage exists today. While the reality is more complicated than the statement, there is truth in the fact that life-saving care is almost always available in today's US healthcare system. When a healthcare consumer is ...
Posted in Universal Healthcare | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
I have been surprised to see the dramatic increase in articles questioning the cost saving power of preventive medicine. See the latest article from the NY Times: http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/the-problem-with-prevention/
While I am not qualified to question or evaluate the validity of the points in the article, the round of questioning by many ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Many consumers automatically think that outpatient surgery is more cost-effective than inpatient surgery. While the outcomes are generally the same and patient convenience may increase with outpatient surgery, inpatient stays are often more cost effective by a factor of 5X!
The reason is that outpatient surgical reimbursements often uses an old reimbursement ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2009
Time had a good article this week on the clinical necessity of an MRI to diagnose breast cancer. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1916045,00.html
I liked the article because it pointed out that our culture of "more information is better" is not always true and can lead to unnecessary services when lower cost treatments could have ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Kaiser had a good interview with Chip Kahn, the president of a major for-profit U.S. hospital federation. http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Checking-In-With/Checking-in-Chip-Kahn.aspx Chip has balanced comments even about the possible success (or lack there of) of a Mayo type healthcare model. It is clear from Chip's point of view that hospitals support reform as long as ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
I had first hand experience this weekend using a significant amount of healthcare service for the lowest cost possible. Here is the short story: my two year old daughter had a fever and started coughing in her sleep Friday night. We use a pediatrician that is open on Saturday so we ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
One of the solutions being battered about in the news regarding the various health reform proposals is the use of an insurance co-op model vs. a public option insurance plan. A co-op is just a legal structure for a bunch of individuals and families to buy insurance as if they were ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
We are seeing an increasing amount of billing abuse from surgical physician assistants who are balance billing patients the same gross charge as the physician - a cost usually between $5,000 and $10,000. The reality is that most insurance companies only allow these physician assistant to bill a quarter of ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
Eric told me last night that the surgical volume in many of the surrounding hospitals seem to be down substantially. When talking to GI docs about their endoscopies, Eric noted that they were complaining that volumes for diagnostic endoscopies had dropped from 10 a week to 2 per doctor. When ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »