Healthcare | Momintheusa's Blog

This is an example of the people Obama & Co. should be turning to, learning from, and handing over the reigns of “reform” to. I know several people “in the trenches” of the medical field who all echo these same sentiments… that certainly there is room for reform and improvement…but none of the issues brought up by this Doc are going to be addressed by Obama care effectively…well, the charities will cease to exist. The abuse will only get worse, and the beureaucratic crap will only get deeper.

From: http://www.makingmedicinesmarter.org/recent-comments/27

I am a physician and I want my bias to be up front. I think the health care system needs fixing but the heart of this sticky debate is “Are we responsible for those who do not or cannot take responsibility for themselves?” I see many patients who work hard and do not make enough money to cover all of their medical expenses; they usually find some way (charitable organizations, medicare/medicaid, hospital “free care”) to get the care they need. I have never personally turned away a patient nor have I seen the hospital I work for turn away a patient because of inability to pay, and I am proud of that. HOWEVER, I cannot tell you how many people I see abuse the system. Patients coming in on medicaid (you and I pay for their treatment) with clothes, cars, and cell phones nicer than mine. I also see well-to-do suburban yuppies driving BMWs who do not have health insurance because “they don’t need it.” Until something happens, but when they DO need healhtcare a public cry goes up that “It’s too expensive!” There ARE places to trim the fat in healthcare. Defensive medicine due to malpractice concerns would be my number one choice (again, I admit my bias). Second would be aggressively promoting living wills/advanced directives so that those who do not desire to have their lives prolonged with desparate measures are saved the suffering and indignity in the intensive care unit. Third would be REDUCING (not INCREASING) the administrative costs of healthcare. Every year, more and more government regulations on healthcare delivery require more and more documentation. The hospital I work for has nurses who are hired to do nothing but check charts. They look at the progress notes I write every day to correct them. And when I say correct I do not mean correct a medical error, but an administrative one. If I say a patient has a low hematocrit and I am ordering a unit of blood for transfusion, they flag it and ask me to correct it to say the patient has “anemia.” You see, medicare reimburses for blood transfused for “anemia” but not for “low hematocrit.” (They’re different words for the same thing.) So, when you complain how expensive healthcare is realize that part of your healthcare dollar (insurance premium, taxes, etc) goes to pay these administrators WHO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HELPING PATIENTS. The ONLY thing they do is help the hospital and doctors jump through the hoops medicare sets up to get paid. Realize this: Universal healthcare = more hoops = more money spent on healthcare NOT ACTUALLY RELATED TO PATIENT CARE. A solution is needed but I am not convinced that a single payer system is it. My two cents.

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