41–50 of 244 posts
Let's say they succeed in launching a new generics company. Ten years down the line they will divest in order to build each hospital a shiny new geriatrics wing. Within six months the spun-off drug company will jack up prices and the cycle will continue.
I am not sure if patients will see any of the savings though. I view hospitals as fundamentally dishonest organizations after a few experiences. Their medical treatment is fine but their financial practices are borderline fraudulent.
Well, some hospitals are honest, and dedicated to patient care. And some are dishonest, and only in it for the money. But whatever, none of them are as evil as most drug companies.
Disclaimer: None. I don't work in the medical industry.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your car is unlikely to experience life-threatening complications with a nearly unbounded upper cost while it's being fixed. Your body is. A routine surgery can absolutely turn into a hundred-thousand-dollar nightmare. Never mind that a mechanic has a much better understanding of a car, then a doctor does of a human body.
But is the high cost of those surgeries a product of the broken system? I say yes.
When things go bad in medicine, your bill grows really, really, really fast.
Also, unlike a mechanic with a car, your doctor can't stop working on you after they blow through their quoted budget and ask if you still want to pay for treating the complications. I mean, they can, but unless you've got a death wish, you're not going to say 'no.'
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But is the high cost of those surgeries a product of the broken system? I say yes.
In Canada, developing an accidental MRSA infection after a routine surgery will trivially turn a $5000 procedure into a $25,000 package of life-saving treatment and associated hospital stay. When things go bad in medicine, your bill grows really, really, really fast. Also, unlike a mechanic with a car, your doctor can't stop working on you after they blow through their quoted budget and ask if you still want to pay f…
Let's say they succeed in launching a new generics company. Ten years down the line they will divest in order to build each hospital a shiny new geriatrics wing. Within six months the spun-off drug company will jack up prices and the cycle will continue.
Agree, however the market would have an additional significant competitor, as well as a blue-print and success example for others to emulate if they decide not to defend their value prop.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, some hospitals are honest, and dedicated to patient care. And some are dishonest, and only in it for the money. But whatever, none of them are as evil as most drug companies.
Good Lord, people truly just don't get it. Hospitals are not evil; they are tasked with saving people's lives. People who nobody else can save. All the worst medical problems in the world--sometimes sudden trauma, sometimes a festering problem left to burst--they all end up on the doorstep of the hospitals, full of doctors, nurses, and technicians who are humans just like you and me. And they work ridiculous hours sa…
This is happening in my country and the government has said they'll back any pharmacy deciding to mix the drugs themselves. Healthcare costs are spiralling out of control. It'll lead to a metric ton of courtcases all the way to Strasbourg and beyond though. The Americans may threaten to invade.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, some hospitals are honest, and dedicated to patient care. And some are dishonest, and only in it for the money. But whatever, none of them are as evil as most drug companies.
Good Lord, people truly just don't get it. Hospitals are not evil; they are tasked with saving people's lives. People who nobody else can save. All the worst medical problems in the world--sometimes sudden trauma, sometimes a festering problem left to burst--they all end up on the doorstep of the hospitals, full of doctors, nurses, and technicians who are humans just like you and me. And they work ridiculous hours sa…
I don't think people are complaining about the doctors and nurses. They're complaining about the institutional billing & pricing practices -- and not just the exorbitant prices. Americans have trouble even getting price quotes for routine procedures [1]... a problem that, as I understand, many other countries simply don't have. How can you completely miss these fundamental problems and then claim "people truly just don't get it"?
[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hospitals-prices/hospital...
Let's say they succeed in launching a new generics company. Ten years down the line they will divest in order to build each hospital a shiny new geriatrics wing. Within six months the spun-off drug company will jack up prices and the cycle will continue.
This is all nice and cynical sounding like HN loves when it comes to big companies, but even then: is that such a bad thing? You have ten years of a lot of people getting cheaper and better access to drugs, and you have a bunch of hospitals getting much-needed capacity increases with state-of-the-art facilities, and you have a proven business model for someone else to come in and take their turn at the money-making w…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, some hospitals are honest, and dedicated to patient care. And some are dishonest, and only in it for the money. But whatever, none of them are as evil as most drug companies.
Good Lord, people truly just don't get it. Hospitals are not evil; they are tasked with saving people's lives. People who nobody else can save. All the worst medical problems in the world--sometimes sudden trauma, sometimes a festering problem left to burst--they all end up on the doorstep of the hospitals, full of doctors, nurses, and technicians who are humans just like you and me. And they work ridiculous hours sa…