Sunday, November 16, 2014

Obama Care Scares Diagnostic Medical Procedures

The image is from Doctor Wolfgang Morodor.

Obama care is hurting health care providers and patients.  We people in health care a trying to do our best with less resources.  I work in a small hospital now that I have retired from teaching, and our department cannot ask the ADMINS for money.  We have no money for upgrades for our imaging equipment.  How can we keep a Toshiba CT  chugging 24 hours a day without a service contract?  How can I keep my GE ultrasound machine going without some help?

Our imaging department is going to grind to dust if we cannot maintain a revenue stream.  Medical imaging is the back bone of any hospital.

Obama care is destroying health care for many reasons:  Number one is confusion.

Most Americans do NOT understand health care insurance.  It is too complex.  I agree.  co-pays etc, and Tier One Versus Tier Two.  They  sound like a Bill Cosby interview about rape.  Goorrroppsteryyerdrop.

Number two:  Health care is Expensive:

When you come to the ED, expect a hefty price.  Regardless of what your ailment is. Remember the first thing you do when you arrive in the ED with a sniffle is fork out your credit card.  Really sick people are just taken in and treated.  But the bill can cause a patients family horrible financial strife.

Number Three:  the Doctor treating you may not be a good doctor.

This is true in many settings.  There is no real good rating system for doctors. Many are slime molds festering under a gurney out to make a buck.  At your expense.  Many are great physicians willing to put a finger in your left ventricle where the bullet went, to keep you alive until the heart surgeon shows up.  ED Doctors are hard to judge, unless you work with them.  Some are morons who call CPS if you deny an expensive procedure, or drug for your child that is not necessary.   I work with one of those.  She is a terror.

Number four:  Medical imaging is expensive

Indeed.  Most hospitals rely on medical imaging to survive.  Ask the doctor why you need a CAT scan, when you fell down after you tripped on a rock.  Ask the doctor why you need an ultrasound when your gall bladder was removed 30 years ago.

Bless you all,  Here is a link for more information on how we all can better take care of our selves.

Health care reform and the shift from the fee-for-service to a value-based payment model will have a negative impact on the diagnostic imaging market in the U.S., according to a new report conducted by Decision Resources Group. Even though the elderly population is increasing and creating a greater need for diagnostic procedures, the market will only grow "modestly" through 2023.

The new payment model is transforming the radiology department from a profit center to a cost center for health care facilities, according to the report. Facilities will be taking a lot more consideration into what imaging procedures are appropriate, which means there will be a reduction in the number they perform.

Thanks Dot Med

http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/24591

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