‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

Post by perl4ever » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 2:58 AM UTC

beerandt wrote: post #98

perl4ever wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I applied for a few jobs at places that did things like practice management software over the years, e.g. athenahealth but never worked in the industry, so I don't have any insight on what it's like on the inside. But I assume there are systemic reasons. It's easy to say concierge medicine, but I'm not clear on why that should work, if funneling the same amount of money every month through an insurance company doesn'…

Edited: Easy... They don't take insurance. They're typically cash only, which allows them freedom to do things like charge for house calls. Or they have contracts directly with employers to do checkups and on-demand visits onsite. Employers that are either big enough -or financially successful enough- to be self insured are essentially paying cash for office visits and most covered services anyway. (Many companies th…

Post by selimthegrim » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 3:47 AM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #69

Very odd that this article never mentions that Texas has refused to expand Medicaid under the ACA.

Post by bradleyjg » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 4:13 AM UTC

jandrewrogers wrote: post #45

EliRivers wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand a lot of poor people in these regions lack the resources to move to more populated areas. Would you support a federal or state rehousing program to enable that? It's a genuine question; should the US taxpayer pony up so poor people trapped in rural areas can move to population centres and enjoy the benefits thereof?

In most cases, people live there because that is where their lives and family are, not because they are poor per se or "trapped". In fact, many of them are not poor by any constructive definition. These populations, while shrinking and aging, have productive lives often related to resource extraction industries such as farming and mining which are not going away. People are simply choosing to remain in the areas wher…

Post by lazyasciiart » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 5:37 AM UTC

ddingus wrote: post #106

vkou wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cruelty isn't an unhappy, accidental by-product. It's the whole point of the policy. This is what ~half the country endorses, by virtue of how it votes.

Apparently, my earlier message did not resonate: To be absolutely clear, this mess we are in is a function of money in politics, voters not seeing a choice they feel good about, and a general trend toward more authoritarian norms. In any election, voters can and will do one of the following: Vote Major Party Vote other No Vote In the last election, a large number of Americans did not have a choice they felt worthy of…

Post by saghm » Tue, Oct 01, 2019, 5:49 AM UTC

vo2maxer wrote: post #95

chimi wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should go through the process of training more physicians, because every day in the USA many people are harmed, up to death, due to there not being enough physicians. We need more midlevels too, I agree, though midlevels are not allowed to do everything doctors can do and are required to have many things approved by a doctor as well. So to increase midlevels would naturally require an increase in physicians. I com…

I don’t mean to underestimate what you’re going through and those in similar situations, but consider the significant harm being done by unnecessary procedures and medications which add no value to a patient’s life. A lot of it is being done by a glut of avaricious physicians in metropolitan areas, particularly those with large elderly populations. Witness end-of-life care with its outrageous in-hospital costs, which…