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YC Research: Universal Healthcare

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#31

Post by cma »

will_pseudonym wrote: post #27
TuringNYC wrote: post #18

(Full-time co-founder of a healthcare startup here): W/r/t the US specifically: it seems there is no shortage of inefficiencies and obvious solutions to the inefficiencies in the US healthcare system. To me, the real problem seems to be a system that has almost diabolically evolved to create competing interests that deadlock all sides into a sub-optimal solution. Specifically-- patients, payers, physicians, pharma, f…

Don't forget farm subsidies dumping cheap corn syrup into the bellies of our entire populace. Health care in the USA must deal with the reality of our obese and overweight masses (no pun intended). Mental health in this country is similarly crippled by rapid societal changes, but that would take longer to explain in detail.

I thought subsidies for corn-based ethanol and tariffs on sugar (lowering sweetener supply) made corn syrup more expensive.

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#32

Post by striking »

Kevin_S wrote: post #20
xyzzy4 wrote: post #16

Healthcare isn't truly 'universal' until it is also applied to non-humans.

Uh.... can we go over what you mean here?

Perhaps the parent poster meant aliens. As a play on words from "Universal". Or maybe parent poster is a member of PETA.

In any case I think it was intended as a joke.

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#33

Post by warcher »

TuringNYC wrote: post #18

(Full-time co-founder of a healthcare startup here): W/r/t the US specifically: it seems there is no shortage of inefficiencies and obvious solutions to the inefficiencies in the US healthcare system. To me, the real problem seems to be a system that has almost diabolically evolved to create competing interests that deadlock all sides into a sub-optimal solution. Specifically-- patients, payers, physicians, pharma, f…

In the united states we can't successfully implement negotiation on drug prices for MediCare. They literally can't negotiate with their suppliers. By law.

Anybody thinking software is going to solve that is way in a bubble.

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2016/09/19/the-politics-of-med...

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#34

Post by ones_and_zeros »

tyre wrote: post #30

We sell to governments, which is similar to healthcare. I cannot stress this enough: technology is not the hard part. Do they have outdated software? Yes. Can you build better software? Yes. None of that matters if you can't get it into their hands. Procurement is the hard part. Can you empathize with the needs, fears, desires, quirks, and crazy of ten different stakeholders? Pry proprietary API specs from the cold-d…

I think the point of this project is to replace the people, not necessarily to make software for people to use. Software is just means to an end.

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#35

Post by TuringNYC »

maxerickson wrote: post #26
TuringNYC wrote: post #18

(Full-time co-founder of a healthcare startup here): W/r/t the US specifically: it seems there is no shortage of inefficiencies and obvious solutions to the inefficiencies in the US healthcare system. To me, the real problem seems to be a system that has almost diabolically evolved to create competing interests that deadlock all sides into a sub-optimal solution. Specifically-- patients, payers, physicians, pharma, f…

I bet making structural changes so that cost of care is more visible to patients would help a lot in the US. Of course this means disincentivizing health care as a benefit rather than incentivizing it, so it will never happen. It is kind of happening with things like HSAs, but not really. We should also work on removing arbitrary barriers to entering the supply side of the market. Not just for individuals that want t…

I agree, opacity is a big part of the problem. I'm super-excited about Castlight Health (http://www.castlighthealth.com/) and how they approach the problem (by presenting cost/value scatters and other ways)...but...how obscene is it that we as a country should even need such a service!?

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#36

Post by ihaveajob »

cma wrote: post #31
will_pseudonym wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget farm subsidies dumping cheap corn syrup into the bellies of our entire populace. Health care in the USA must deal with the reality of our obese and overweight masses (no pun intended). Mental health in this country is similarly crippled by rapid societal changes, but that would take longer to explain in detail.

I thought subsidies for corn-based ethanol and tariffs on sugar (lowering sweetener supply) made corn syrup more expensive.

Subsidies for corn have been in place, depressing prices (relative to high-tariff sugar) long enough, that food manufacturers have incorporated corn products into almost everything you can buy at the supermarket. Once the supply chain is in place, even if corn prices rise marginally, it's going to take a large effort to eliminate it from the typical American diet.

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#37

Post by X86BSD »

I love this, its like Kiva but for third world healthcare procedures, just fantastic.

They need to make browsing for potential patients easier. After 22 pages of "View more patients" my browser starts to bog down.

A search would be good. As well as a map to select a country to view those in need.

IMO.

But really great startup!

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#38

Post by MR4D »

TuringNYC wrote: post #18

(Full-time co-founder of a healthcare startup here): W/r/t the US specifically: it seems there is no shortage of inefficiencies and obvious solutions to the inefficiencies in the US healthcare system. To me, the real problem seems to be a system that has almost diabolically evolved to create competing interests that deadlock all sides into a sub-optimal solution. Specifically-- patients, payers, physicians, pharma, f…

I agree wholeheartedly.

One thing that bugs me is how limited my choices are. I believe that over-regulation drives that. Getting an x-ray for my dog is much, much cheaper than me getting one, which is just one example of an unregulated market (relatively, obviously there are licensing & safety standards)

Seems that this would be a shot. If it doesn't work, lets try something different. I'm not wedded to any solution, but I think we probably agree that healthcare is mostly broken in the US (and was even before Obamacare).

Final note - I don't distinguish between healthcare & insurance for sake of simplicity in this post.

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#39

Post by esfandia »

Healthcare definitely seems like the land of process inefficiency, even in developed countries like here in Canada, so there's plenty of opportunity for major improvement. There's still plenty of paperwork done on... paper, information that constantly has to be repeated when you go from one provider to another, and plenty of mistakes made.

Some time ago Ontario spent a massive amount of money on computerizing healthcare and it yielded nothing. I figure all the regulations, privacy issues, and overall complexity of the system makes it a tough Goliath to handle. And whatever happened to Google Health?

I feel that the solution has to come from the grassroots: get a bunch of health care providers to sync up for certain simple services, and go from there. Keep adding features little by little, keep expanding the number of participants. Do it using published and open source APIs and software. Don't try to be everything to everyone. Break a few rules, ignore some complicated standards if it can help get you there quicker. Hmmm, maybe for the latter to be possible it makes sense to start in less sue-happy countries.

Re: YC Research: Universal Healthcare

#40

Post by chicagobob »

maxerickson wrote: post #26
TuringNYC wrote: post #18

(Full-time co-founder of a healthcare startup here): W/r/t the US specifically: it seems there is no shortage of inefficiencies and obvious solutions to the inefficiencies in the US healthcare system. To me, the real problem seems to be a system that has almost diabolically evolved to create competing interests that deadlock all sides into a sub-optimal solution. Specifically-- patients, payers, physicians, pharma, f…

I bet making structural changes so that cost of care is more visible to patients would help a lot in the US. Of course this means disincentivizing health care as a benefit rather than incentivizing it, so it will never happen. It is kind of happening with things like HSAs, but not really. We should also work on removing arbitrary barriers to entering the supply side of the market. Not just for individuals that want t…

Only partially. Often at the time of consumption cost isn't something one can use to make decisions. But for those other times, sure it would help.

Speaking of lack of info about pricing you might find this interesting: https://www.statnews.com/2017/02/06/health-insurance-high-de...

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