Why are we wasting money on healthcare with poor outcomes?

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Medical Economics' blog section which features contributions from members of the medical community. These blogs are an opportunity for bloggers to engage with readers about a topic that is top of mind, whether it is practice management, experiences with patients, the industry, medicine in general, or healthcare reform. The series continues with this blog by Jeffrey Gene Kaplan, MD, MS, a senior pediatrician and retired physician executive. The views expressed in these blogs are those of their respective contributors and do not represent the views of Medical Economics or UBM Medica.

 

 

Jeffrey Gene Kaplan, MD, MSI am frustrated with the unprecedented amount of money being spent on healthcare in the United States, particularly since, compared to most other nations, we do not have better results from this “would-be investment.” 

In other words, we’re wasting our money and I say this, for the most part, regardless of the medical or surgical condition.  For example, given the acuity or case mix, compare the cost of dental or surgical care in Mexico or Europe to getting the same service in the United States.

More from ME blogs: Young doctors are jumping ship to non-clinical roles

 

Nevertheless, the skeptics will say our care is better. Is it?  To answer that question, we need to look at all the costs, determine the quality of care, acuity-adjust the benefit, if any (i.e., the outcomes) and verify that there are no problems with access. [These three parameters-cost, technical and perceived quality and access will neatly come together in my definition of “value,” below.]

Obviously, the challenge in medical management is to get the costs down without compromising access and to get the quality up. 

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