Then what?
I just know you'll be excited to hear that this is yet another website written by an M.D. about healthcare. Can't wait for the new secret to fight aging? Sorry, I'm not here to give medical advice. I'm not going to tell you that smoking is bad, or that eating lots of leafy greens and eliminating bread, sugar and meat products will make your life longer and more fun. You should already know that and a lot more about how to stay healthy. What I do want to share is how our healthcare system works, and more importantly how it doesn't work. Most of us pay way too much for a system that is so poorly understood. And it's not just money...we pay in so many other ways.
Just got through moving my mom's stuff for a move. She has had two joint replacements with spectacular results. Part of her wonderful experience on both occasions was a device that circulated cold water through a bandage-like device, cooling her new joints and the surgical sites so that swelling and pain could be minimized. They are really cool machines (sorry), and yes I said they. She had two of them, one for each time, and I now have to get rid of them. They are in perfect condition, and could be used to help many more patients. Yet there is no way for me to reuse these devices. The hospital is not interested in reusing, mainly because it would mean that they would be selling fewer of them. It's in the hospital's interest to sell a brand new unit each time it is needed. Most cost-saving maneuvers in healthcare actually result in earnings reduction, and the need to fuel and increase earning far exceeds any efforts to contain costs. The simple explanation is that healthcare costs are actually earnings. It would help if we could recognize this, and use the term "earnings" when we refer to healthcare costs. "Rising healthcare costs" are usually more accurately described as rising earnings. We have armies of people whose job is to maximize earnings, and too few to address minimizing costs.
Just got through moving my mom's stuff for a move. She has had two joint replacements with spectacular results. Part of her wonderful experience on both occasions was a device that circulated cold water through a bandage-like device, cooling her new joints and the surgical sites so that swelling and pain could be minimized. They are really cool machines (sorry), and yes I said they. She had two of them, one for each time, and I now have to get rid of them. They are in perfect condition, and could be used to help many more patients. Yet there is no way for me to reuse these devices. The hospital is not interested in reusing, mainly because it would mean that they would be selling fewer of them. It's in the hospital's interest to sell a brand new unit each time it is needed. Most cost-saving maneuvers in healthcare actually result in earnings reduction, and the need to fuel and increase earning far exceeds any efforts to contain costs. The simple explanation is that healthcare costs are actually earnings. It would help if we could recognize this, and use the term "earnings" when we refer to healthcare costs. "Rising healthcare costs" are usually more accurately described as rising earnings. We have armies of people whose job is to maximize earnings, and too few to address minimizing costs.