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The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

bloomberg.com

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Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#31

Post by cmiles74 »

vadlamak wrote: post #23

The problem I see in the US is a defensive approach against being sued by the patient. The doctor prescribes a battery of tests even though he is more or less sure what the symptom might be. But let's play it safe and not get sued! Healthcare professionals carry insurances in millions against being sued. This ultimately gets passed on to customers. Accountability is good, but not at this cost!

The hospital or larger healthcare organization derives real monetary value from the prescribing of these tests, I don't think it all boils down to "cover your ass". In a lot of cases it's to charge more per patient.

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#32

Post by organsnyder »

supahfly_remix wrote: post #6

Really interesting article. As always, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I wonder what would happen if a company known for affordable quality, like Toyota, could make an efficient assembly-line for health care.

Assembly lines are great for building from scratch. However, no two humans are alike. It's similar to the difference between greenfield and maintenance software development.

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#33

Post by cmiles74 »

supahfly_remix wrote: post #6

Really interesting article. As always, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I wonder what would happen if a company known for affordable quality, like Toyota, could make an efficient assembly-line for health care.

There are much less drastic things that could be tried, but I don't see much political will for real change. We get a lot of talk, but few concrete plans.

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#34

Post by Frondo »

notyourday wrote: post #9
rhombocombus wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference here is not that we don't do surgeries efficiently, but that we are subject to the effects of regulatory capture, which stops any kind of price competition in its tracks and leads to $300 bags of saline.

I most am most likely going to need an ACL surgery in a couple of months so we will see how it goes. So far I found out that pretty much every "X is difficult" is a gospel peddled by lazy. This is my first relatively major incident so I'm running pretty blind -- I'm approaching it as I approach needing to do something in business. Instead of going to the ER ($2,500), I went to a walk in medical center ($120), got see…

I had my gallbladder removed in a emergency surgery over a decade ago.

It happened on a Wednesday night. I had excruciating pain, enough to nearly black out -- and a friend took me to an emergency room, where they did an ekg, ultrasound, put me on a morphine drip and operated the next day. Once the pain set in, I was in no position to do research for a variety of reasons.

I'm not sure what kind of shopping around could have taken place for that.

Could you explain how your technique would work for something like my situation?

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#35

Post by rb808 »

rb808 wrote: post #30

$2k for major surgery, nice! Last time I went to ER it was $2k for the doctor's assistant to ask a few questions and put a band aid on.

Actually it wasn't a critically urgent problem but needed doctors attention. If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price would be great.

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#36

Post by gowld »

organsnyder wrote: post #29
notyourday wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High Deductible Plan. Takes care of big ass expenses, steep cost in the beginning.

HDPs can also have unintended side effects like patients delaying getting screenings until conditions are much worse (and more expensive to treat).

Why? HDPs aren't required to charge for screenings, any more than HMOd or PPOs are.

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#37

Post by benj111 »

SilasX wrote: post #27
benj111 wrote: post #24

I think they need to qualify 'cheapest' because as a Brit I wouldn't have to pay anything (directly) for any of these things. Now the costs of doing the procedures are probably lower, but I have no idea what they would cost in this country.

Somebody is paying, and even if you're not paying out of pocket it definitely matters how much the government is paying and economizing, because they have to stretch your tax dollar/pound too.

That's why I said "(directly)". But yes I agree with your point.

Its unclear to me whether figures quoted are prices you pay, or cost to do the procedure. Some at least appear to be the price you pay ("Shetty did it for about $10,000 and turned a profit"), which as I don't pay anything directly, suggests that they need to qualify 'cheapest'.

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#38

Post by anigbrowl »

notyourday wrote: post #9
rhombocombus wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference here is not that we don't do surgeries efficiently, but that we are subject to the effects of regulatory capture, which stops any kind of price competition in its tracks and leads to $300 bags of saline.

I most am most likely going to need an ACL surgery in a couple of months so we will see how it goes. So far I found out that pretty much every "X is difficult" is a gospel peddled by lazy. This is my first relatively major incident so I'm running pretty blind -- I'm approaching it as I approach needing to do something in business. Instead of going to the ER ($2,500), I went to a walk in medical center ($120), got see…

That's very interesting information, but I could have done without your snide allegations of laziness towards everyone not in your fortunate position - being both educated and confident enough to research and negotiate pricing, and having a relatively non-urgent problem. The last time I was in the ER I woke up there with no clue as to how I had arrived.

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#39

Post by Scoundreller »

Frondo wrote: post #34
notyourday wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I most am most likely going to need an ACL surgery in a couple of months so we will see how it goes. So far I found out that pretty much every "X is difficult" is a gospel peddled by lazy. This is my first relatively major incident so I'm running pretty blind -- I'm approaching it as I approach needing to do something in business. Instead of going to the ER ($2,500), I went to a walk in medical center ($120), got see…

I had my gallbladder removed in a emergency surgery over a decade ago. It happened on a Wednesday night. I had excruciating pain, enough to nearly black out -- and a friend took me to an emergency room, where they did an ekg, ultrasound, put me on a morphine drip and operated the next day. Once the pain set in, I was in no position to do research for a variety of reasons. I'm not sure what kind of shopping around cou…

Isn’t the solution an advanced care directive? Where you make decisions in advance of something happening, just in case you end up in a situation where you can’t decide yourself?

E.g. no extraordinary measures or no CPR, or, get me into one of these nursing homes and not this one.

Even in public health care countries, there’s plenty of decisions that are a good idea to make in advance.

I don’t see why they can’t be scaled toward cash healthcare countries.

Re: The World’s Cheapest Hospital Has to Get Even Cheaper

#40

Post by sovnade »

rb808 wrote: post #35
rb808 wrote: post #30

$2k for major surgery, nice! Last time I went to ER it was $2k for the doctor's assistant to ask a few questions and put a band aid on.

Actually it wasn't a critically urgent problem but needed doctors attention. If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price would be great.

Every single ER will charge every insurance company/plan differently, so that list would be pretty unreliable.
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