It used to be that doctors and nurses would tell patients if their demands are unreasonable- asking for treatments and medication they do not need.
Now, a lot of the doctors practices are being swallowed up by big entities who now call the shots. Care in the hospital is being given by hospitalists who never ran a business of a private practice.
In order not to get complaints which could cause them to get in trouble with administration, they will usually order up things to keep up patient satisfaction, but cost money in the long run. The same with oupatient clinics owned by corporations.When you have physicians who have no sense of the cost of healthcare( because they are owned and have never run a private practice), they will prescribe treatments until the country goes bankrupt. They also need to train physicians to be able to talk with families when continuing care is futile. I have seen physicians avoid this conversation, although lately there has been a slight increase in discussion of end of life care. Sometimes, you have to be blunt.
There is a huge entitlement mentality of Medicaid patients, who tend in my experience to be the most demanding because they do not have to pay anything.
If I ran the healthcare world- I would do these things:
1. Make Medicare means tested. Pay more if you have more income. If you want to pursue futile care- then you need to pay for it yourself.
2. Medicaid patients must pay a copay on every non emergency service they receive. I do not care if it is only a buck, but they need to have skin in the game.
3. Prioritize the care that is given. The new thing in healthcare is sleep studies for sleep apnea. That is not a healthcare priority. We should emphasize conditions that can endanger life , and limb. Buy a separate luxury policy if you want your acne treated.
4. All illegals seeking healthcare must be reported to INS for immediate deportation once their condition is stable in the hospital.
5. Reduce the paperwork demand on hospitals and clinics tht the government has mandated.
6.Chronic treatment of conditions such as- never ending physical therapy for back pain- needs to be limited. PT is good in some aspects of care, but way overused.
7.Malpractice reform. A lot of tests that are ordered for patients is defensive medicine.
I could go on.....
Agree with all of it ..but one thing is missing ...eliminate ALL lawyering and lawsuits ..it’s the reason also WHY docs order all those tests, and we have all this crazy pricing.
Agree about medicaid recipients ...as a nurse, they are also the ones crying foul the most, threatening to sue. Really gets me, as they aren’t paying a FREAKING DIME for any of their care.