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25+ years in the Hospital Environment and the influx of new requirements and reporting keeps expanding.
We have dedicated positions unimaginable 25 years ago and they are required.
Meds that quickly outdate generate a lot of wasted plus disposal costs... one of our Docs had a Military Career and said when the DOD buys many of the Meds have longer outdates... wonder why it would be OK for military and not civilian.
Another core issue is who cares what something costs if someone else is paying the bill... a total disconnect here.
Hospitals are not the money makers many think... if this were the case there wouldn't be a constant parade of closings...
The issue is not large hospital groups, the issue is monopolistic practices which push up prices. The alternative is either to allow monopolies but have the government regulate prices or to accept significantly higher prices.
If we want a free market approach to health care then we need to make sure that the market actually works as well as possible.
First, since when did you get appointed to decide what "the" issue is? Other people have opinions that are just as valuable and valid as yours. I don't think your concept of a monopoly necessarily works in terms of hospitals. This isn't a railroad or a coal company or a steel company. Millions upon millions of people in this country don't even have access to a hospital in their community. Other communities that have 1 hospital are simply too small to have a competing hospital.
Additionally you want a "free market", but you don't want a monopoly. It's either a free market business or it's not.
<>Meds that quickly outdate generate a lot of wasted plus disposal costs... one of our Docs had a Military Career and said when the DOD buys many of the Meds have longer outdates... wonder why it would be OK for military and not civilian.<>
Packaging. When I was in the electronic industry we made spares for computer components for the military. These connectors had sealed, waxed, cosmolined boxes stored inside weather proof containers. I can imagine meds for armed services use were preserved with the same intent, to be opened 10 years from now and still be perfect. Adds a lot to the cost.
The OP of the thread wanted to fire everybody not directly involved with patient care. Clear proof that they have no idea what goes on in the real world.
The high cost of American medical care has to do with the perverted relationship between the courts/lawyers, the insurance companies and patients. Our legal system falsely creates unreasonable expectations by patients of outcomes and punishes the caregivers for providing anything other then consensus "best practices." The system does not take into account the fact that we are dealing with biologic systems & the math of chaos that governs them: outcomes are predictable only to a low level of certainty, yet the courts feel 100% certainty is warranted.
A physician is punished by the courts not only for the outcome itself, but also for arriving at his decisions of action by use of only his knowledge & experience. He must provide evidence in black and white (ie- expensive lab & radiol tests) to prove he knows what he's doing to 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty.
Now add to that scenario of excessive testing & liability insurance costs the obscene pressure on the law of supply and demand by having payment provided by a third party: this essentially sends demand to infinity. Every mosquito bite deserves medical attention-- It's "free!"
How to fix it?--Fist, eliminate malpractice suits. Second, make insurance cover only serious illness or injury requiring hospitalization. Third, establish a tax of $20/month for all kids born, paid into an account in their name only, to be assessed from birth to age 18. The account will be invested in a mutual fund tied to the DJA. That account will used to pay med expenses as they arise. If untouched, it will be worth 7 figures at age 65 and at death, unused monies can be willed to heirs.
Our politicians CAN solve these problems. They don't WANT TO.
25+ years in the Hospital Environment and the influx of new requirements and reporting keeps expanding.
We have dedicated positions unimaginable 25 years ago and they are required.
Meds that quickly outdate generate a lot of wasted plus disposal costs... one of our Docs had a Military Career and said when the DOD buys many of the Meds have longer outdates... wonder why it would be OK for military and not civilian.
In the military you can not sue the doc.
Also most medical treatments done in the military is done by Corpsmen/medics. I served 20+ years, the number of times I [or my family] were treated by a MD 'doctor' can be counted on fingers of one hand.
Surgeries, pregnancies, broken bones, are all done by corpsmen/medics.
I’ll be the 1st one to admit that our HC system is broken beyond repair.
Common sense says this problem is not unsolvable, so what are the primary obstacles? Greed? Power? Control? I honestly don’t understand why our nation cannot fix this except that the people we elect to represent us are not fixing it. So what do we do? Re-elect them, of course!
As someone already mentioned, there are many existing systems in place that we could either copy or tweak to meet our needs. We need to ask ourselves why our leaders refuse to consider them. My personal belief is that big insurance is calling the shots in this debate, but of course I have no proof.
All I know for certain is that this is a crisis that isn’t going to go away. In fact, I can see this getting to the point where the entire health care industry implodes, leaving us in an even more perilous situation.
I’ll be the 1st one to admit that our HC system is broken beyond repair.
Common sense says this problem is not unsolvable<>
I do not think that phrase means what you seem to think it means.
In fact, you do not seem to believe what you have said, because you have suggestions to repair it?
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