Comments on: News 6/13/08

By: CDiff

CDiff — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:06:30 +0000

Appreciate the various perspectives on bill paying, but got to thinking about this article on the front page of the newspaper of record :

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/asia/13fat.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

If there is concern about “peeking” at patients ability to pay, imagine the response in the U.S. if the government mandated that people show up to have their waist measured like in Japan. And then actually expect those above the norm to take affirmative steps to do something to change their behaviors.

Betting that both Mr. H. and Inga would give George Clooney and Katherine Heigl a run for the money if waistlines were put to the tape…

By: Cognweel

Cognweel — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:04:55 +0000

Although I can appreciate wanting people to pay bills. As a business owner, I am no different, but let’s not forget that many hospitals are not-for-profits. Many, if not most, had their roots in religious organizations and are charity organizations. Some of these organizations have simply forgotten their original mission and turned their ministry into a business. I often wonder where healthcare would be, if they had kept to their original ideals?

Just wondering.

By: Art Lover

Art Lover — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:02:59 +0000

While I agree with the fact that people need to be willing to pay for their healthcare, the fact is that healthcare differs from car repaor in several not-so-insignificant ways:

1) When I take my car to the shop, the mechanic tells me what it is costing me every step of the way, so I can make a decision about whether I want to do the repair or not as I go. And if something comes up during the repair, the mechanic notifies me that additional work is necessary and quotes me the price for the additions. Not only can no doctor tell me what a test will cost, but no staff are willing to research that for me.

2) Because I know what my car repair is going to cost and the bill is presented to me as I am leaving, I can plan appropriately to make the payment. With any doctor visit, I have to wait 2-4 months while the billing office and coding department goof off and draft up a bill (it does NOT take 2-4 months to complete a bill in an automated system). So, several months after I have had my work done, I get this bill (which, by the way, is rarely if ever comprehensible — and I WORK in healthcare) that I then have to figure out how I will pay.

And all of this ignores the fact that healthcare is not always as optional as car repair.

Sorry, but before you put all of the blame on the patient (and I DO agree that there are some patients who milk the system), healthcare billing needs to clean up its act. It is amazingly inefficienct, non-customer friendly, and uncompetive. Any car shop that was run like a hospital would go out of business!

By: Art_Vandelay

Art_Vandelay — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:16:47 +0000

Mr. HISTalk – RIGHT-ON with the comments about patients and paying. When are people going to realize, this is the only industry in a capitalist economy where we are expected to provide service without know if and how much we are going to be paid? We do have prices for services and I’d bet if there was a system for up-front collections, payment, or at least a “deposit” or “retainer fee”, many LIST prices in health care would come down. This benefits the “self pay” patients.