Quote:
Originally Posted by shcisamax
I am quite sure there are people that want lots of tests because they aren't paying for them but the crux of the article is that doctors order tests they may not need. It referred to the example of people who came to Florida for the winter and were told to get tests which they found were totally unnecessary when they spoke to their regular doctor. If you read the article, it speaks to the medicare providers get paid the more they do and there is a significant problem with regard to this.
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You're right, and the problem of what Medicare incentivizes was rightly stated by TV developer Gary Morse, back in 2010 (below). While others only complained, he put his money where his mouth was and funded/built a different type of primary-care system.
“Medicare is a lifesaving program but it has been set up in such a way that doctors are no longer able to care for us senior citizens in the same manner that we grew up with,” said Villages developer Gary Morse. “Medicare pays a doctor for every patient he sees, not how much time he spends with that patient. If the doctor sees 100 patients a day, he or she makes twice as much as seeing 50 patients.”
The result of that volume-driven system has changed the way most doctors operate….."
What it did not mention is that many
primary-care doctors cannot pay the bills having mostly Medicare patients and few with private insurance, and because they do NOT do unnecessary procedures because they have a conscience, their practice goes belly up and they have to close.
Morse articulated the problem and DID something about it, but how many in Washington have been willing to listen and ACT on it--
somehow?
http://www.thevillageshealth.com/art...20Hometown.pdf