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Healthcare Consumerism
6 answers
I agree with your points. When buying a car, cost and quality can be managed more logically versus when it becomes a personal health purchase and you are asked to make a rational decision at the least rational time.
I just got back from a meeting of Interprofessional Health Education Collaborative where this topic was discussed. Some of the important questions we need to address to find a solution to the question of transparency are:
- Who benefits from the current system without transparency?
- How can they be motivated to embrace transparency in cost and quality?
- What kind of environmental changes or technological changes will hasten the move towards transparency in cost and quality measures?
- Do we have metrics to measure the levels of transparency and quality.
There is a great website and organization called Broken Healthcare (BrokenHealthcare.com) whose main goal is to get transparency into the healthcare marketplace as far as cost and information. They are really on the right track.
As we are still nearly 180 degrees out from transparent cost and similarly with quality information, I think we will see tremendous improvement in the former area as we are in such need of financial outcome data to couple with traditional clinical outcome performance data. However, with the research that continues in so many institutions, I think there is too wide a spectrum of what it 'costs' to create, discover, or develop a new Dx or Rx. I would hate to see us come to the point that payment for a drug, test or use of a medical device only includes the transparency of the production costs.
66 months ago
True medical cost to the patient/consumer is also difficult to determine insurance due to:
- Specific insurance plan/coverage/or private pay
- Deductibles
- Qualification for procedure
- Proper paperwork filed
Even if you think you have coverage, you could not actually receive it due to many factors.
HEALTHCARE COLLECTIVISM?
Let me blow your mind! How about HC collectivism?
Collectivism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that emphasizes the significance of groups—their identities, goals, rights, outcomes, etc.—and tends to analyze issues in those terms.
Any thoughts?
63 months ago