To solve a problem, some say, look to who makes money from its existence. So, who benefits from the high cost of healthcare in the U.S.? At a minimum, looking at the beneficiaries will help us identify those who will impose barriers to changing the status quo. (In the next blog, I’ll look at root causes of the cost problem and worthy solutions.) High Cost U.S. healthcare costs exceed those of other developed countries according to several key metrics: as a percent of our GDP, cost per family, and cost of procedures and hospital stays, among others. Self-insured employers reported to MedCity News that the average per-person cost of healthcare would be $17,201 in 2023, a $1,339 increase (or 7.8%) from 2022. By way of comparison, median annual income was $69,021 in 2021. No wonder a significant lifetime achievement is securing a job…
Healthcare Needs a “Me Too” Movement
Some things should never happen in healthcare, like operating on the wrong place or providing the wrong medication or dosage. But such things happen, sadly. In a study of one insurer’s malpractice claims stemming from 68 wrong-site surgery claims between 2013-2020, 46% of patients required a second surgery, 10% experienced mobility dysfunction, and 9% had a worsened injury. Even worse, 15% died or totally lost function, about equally split. These mistakes should never have occurred. Since 2004, The Joint Commission (which accredits US healthcare organizations) has mandated a Universal Protocol for surgery. The protocol requires a pre-incision verification process, the surgeon marking the incision site on the body, and a surgical team time-out immediately before the incision so that any team member can stop the surgery. Yet between 2018 and 2022, The Joint Commission received 525 reports of wrong surgery. It’s a likely…