Quote:
Originally Posted by LAblondeGPhi
Many folks may be asking "what about cost?", and I think that's a very valid question. While I'm loathe to talk about life-saving technology that's "too expensive" to administer, I think there can be cost savings that we could realize through streamlined billing and files management, greater focus on early prevention and intervention of serious acute and chronic diseases, somehow reigning in the obesity epidemic, and a realistic, human approach to end-of-life and palliative care.
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Here's an example of a cost problem that is easily fixed:
I was having stomach problems, and fell into the demographic at high risk for Crohn's. I went to the doctor, and he said that he wanted to do a colonoscopy. He then explained that the insurance company won't let him do that unless he put me through cheaper tests first. He also said that the cheaper test always comes back "inconclusive -- do the colonoscopy", so I should just go ahead and schedule the colonoscopy right away.
So, in the doctor's opinion, the cheaper test was NEVER able to rule out Crohn's, but the insurance company mandated that I have the cheaper test anyway. That is really dumb.
ETA: I honestly don't know who was right, between the doc and the ins. co. Insurance companies obviously want cheaper tests, but there are also doctors who over-treat. The point is that there are conflicting incentives, here, and best practices in medicine need to be the winner.