Discuss 'Cutting health care costs'

this would also require that Doctors do their job and not cut corners so that they could pocket the difference

cougarnurse wrote:Discuss this story here: http://www.ultimatenurse.com/forum/f38/cutting-heath-care-costs-40865/#post73799

Healthcare needs to become more outcome focused. With medicine being less than 25% evidenced based patients are paying for unproven treatments. Physicians are quick to point out the costs of defensive medicine. I don't debate this; however, this is only one of many issues. Another issue are physicans who have invested money into equipment (i.e. a ortho doc that is part owner of a MRI machine). These physicans are quick to refer for these services.

Another way to get around all this over utilization that the Mayo clincil does is to pay physicans a flat salary. Doesn't matter how many surgeries you do you get paid the same amount.

I think the obvious question is, what happens when the patient has needed more than the "approved" amount of care and will go over? Do they really think that doctors are still going to treat these patients? No, they'll cut care to keep from losing money.