Healthcare is most like a utility. It has a major effect on every person in your community and it is as important as water and electricity. It will be critical for many of us at some time in our lives. That is where the similarity ends. You can understand how much water and electricity will cost for your family. I have been part of the system for 40 years as an internal medicine doctor, and when I go to the hospital to have a procedure, I have no idea what it will cost. Unlike water and electricity, the costs differ depending on which facility you select and your insurance status. Most disturbingly, the price is highest for those people who don’t have health insurance.
Nice post, Bill. We (CJRI) have been advocates of bundled payment models for total hip/knee and spine procedures for well over a decade now. We have predictable pricing with a warranty for related complications and readmissions. Naively, we thought the broker community and their contracted employers would have been banging at our doors to partner with us -- but not so fast. We've encountered obstacle after obstacle especially if the TPA is a BUCAH. Fortunately, there are companies such as Carrum Health that have cultivated the Center of Excellence model and scaled bundled payment arrangements. By the way, for your readership, the images associated with this piece are not those of a standard total knee arthroplasty but rather what is known as a "mega-hinged prosthesis" performed either for severe failure of a prior primary total knee arthroplasty or possibly a tumor resection. A standard total knee arthroplasty resurfaces and realigns the joint but in point of fact does not actually remove the knee joint as is depicted on these stock x-rays. Thank you.
Thanks Steve. I appreciate the heads up. I replaced the image and I especially appreciate your comments. You are a great example of the best of American medicine. You founded the Moving to Value Alliance. You have developed systems to improve outcomes and lower costs, but our crazy system does not reward you for developing much better products for employers and patients. I believe Dr Shutzer is in the Hartford Connecticut area. If you live close by and you need orthopedic work, his team is the one for you.
Not only they are out of control crazy, but also, most of them, (99% of devices and 96% of prescription drugs) have NO evidence at all absolutely for their fraudulent claims of "safety and effectiveness" based on the preordained cherry-picked "evidence by the pay-to-play academic "experts" opinions to drive the narratives to deceive, and to plunder, These are the crimes of the century, perpetrated by the corrupt souls operating the Late Stage Sickness Seeking Profiteering American Medical Industrial Complex Kabuki Dance Theatrics!
Nice post, Bill. We (CJRI) have been advocates of bundled payment models for total hip/knee and spine procedures for well over a decade now. We have predictable pricing with a warranty for related complications and readmissions. Naively, we thought the broker community and their contracted employers would have been banging at our doors to partner with us -- but not so fast. We've encountered obstacle after obstacle especially if the TPA is a BUCAH. Fortunately, there are companies such as Carrum Health that have cultivated the Center of Excellence model and scaled bundled payment arrangements. By the way, for your readership, the images associated with this piece are not those of a standard total knee arthroplasty but rather what is known as a "mega-hinged prosthesis" performed either for severe failure of a prior primary total knee arthroplasty or possibly a tumor resection. A standard total knee arthroplasty resurfaces and realigns the joint but in point of fact does not actually remove the knee joint as is depicted on these stock x-rays. Thank you.
Thanks Steve. I appreciate the heads up. I replaced the image and I especially appreciate your comments. You are a great example of the best of American medicine. You founded the Moving to Value Alliance. You have developed systems to improve outcomes and lower costs, but our crazy system does not reward you for developing much better products for employers and patients. I believe Dr Shutzer is in the Hartford Connecticut area. If you live close by and you need orthopedic work, his team is the one for you.
Not only they are out of control crazy, but also, most of them, (99% of devices and 96% of prescription drugs) have NO evidence at all absolutely for their fraudulent claims of "safety and effectiveness" based on the preordained cherry-picked "evidence by the pay-to-play academic "experts" opinions to drive the narratives to deceive, and to plunder, These are the crimes of the century, perpetrated by the corrupt souls operating the Late Stage Sickness Seeking Profiteering American Medical Industrial Complex Kabuki Dance Theatrics!