tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post1781550659290504767..comments2024-03-29T06:37:18.029-04:00Comments on Not Running a Hospital: Did you expect otherwise?Paul Levyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17065446378970179507noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-45848790372473192752015-07-02T10:15:34.998-04:002015-07-02T10:15:34.998-04:00Your comment that the study was not worth doing ma...Your comment that the study was not worth doing may be a little harsh. When I was in business school, many years after practicing clinical and preventive cardiology, several physician classmates and I asked ourselves what it "cost" patients to have procedures that we do frequently (TURP for a head of urology, Various Stress Tests for me, and pacemaker implantation for a senior EP physician). None of us knew!<br />This study has some data, however robust or not it may be, that confirms many anecdotes that I have elicited or otherwise heard. There have been a couple of studies that when physicians are aware of the costs that they generate, they become a little more parsimonious. However, as Dr. Willett and Ms. Anthony have demonstrated getting pricing is difficult.<br />Hospital charges, from the "chargemaster", as you have previously pointed out are not really "prices". What would be most informative to patients might be what the patient's co-pay, after insurance payment (and associated discounts) have been applied. <br />Getting these data would be incredibly difficult, but should be helpful to patients (and their treating physicians).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16623111440648982362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-36563145506731928052015-06-30T13:21:12.504-04:002015-06-30T13:21:12.504-04:00In 2007 as a Chief Resident in Pediatrics, I attem...In 2007 as a Chief Resident in Pediatrics, I attempted to gather some basic cost information to share with my trainees. After all, it seemed reasonable that they should understand that there was a cost differential between HCT and a full CBC, UA vs UA with micro, sedated vs non-sedated MRI, etc. I was shocked at how opaque pricing was even within our own hospital, much less across different systems! <br />Now, as a patient with a high-deductible plan through Kaiser, I get to see those costs in my bills, and they can be pretty ridiculous. I understand that a lot of pricing opacity is due to closed insurance negotiations, but I would propose that those need to be open to public scrutiny. <br />Thank you for your continued efforts to point out the dark underbelly of health system and insurance price fixing!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09146952433044750952noreply@blogger.com