I stumbled upon an example of how competition and the free market can help lower health care costs. Where I live there is 1 hospital, about 200+ beds and they are also the only place to get most of your radiological tests done. Some offices do have their own xray machine or MRI machine, but for the most part everyone is sent to the outpatient radiology department at the hospital or to a satellite facility also run by the hospital.

Recently a new, independent radiology facility has opened up that has xray, ultrasound, ct scan, and MRI, basically nearly every type of imaging someone would need. The manager came to my office yesterday to load software on our computers which allows us to view films done at their facility. I started talking to her about what we typically order and if they could accommodate us. We then started talking price. She said there was a lady who either had no insurance or had a large deductible and she needed a ct scan done. She was quoted a price of $270 for the imaging and radiologist interpretation at the new facility. The patient then said that she had spoken to the hospital who said they would give her a 45% discount since she was essentially paying cash. So, the lady went over to the hospital and got the actual price and was quoted a little over $1k for the same scan.

It's competition like this that bends the cost curve down. I know not everything in health care is as flexible as radiological prices, but its something that shows that the free market can actually work and help people. If the government paid for everything then the new radiology place would charge the same as the hospital, thus costing 4x more.

Yes..."Scans R Us" type competition can only lower costs.

Veterinarians?

(06-28-2017 11:40 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Veterinarians?

Huh?

(06-28-2017 11:38 AM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  Yes..."Scans R Us" type competition can only lower costs.

Same with independent labs.

(06-28-2017 11:58 AM)dfarr Wrote:  

(06-28-2017 11:40 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Veterinarians?

Huh?

I think he's saying you can go to the vet for low-cost medical treatment and a cheap refill on your horse pills.

absolutely dfarr...

the real problem with transparency on medical services is that there is a difference between offering a single service (easy to quote) and 'providing care'... which can involve all sorts of other things. Things like DRGs and bundled payments (as you know) only further complicate the issue, yet they are an important part of the ACA and government attempts to control costs (by edict).

(06-28-2017 12:19 PM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  

(06-28-2017 11:58 AM)dfarr Wrote:  

(06-28-2017 11:40 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Veterinarians?

Huh?

I think he's saying you can go to the vet for low-cost medical treatment and a cheap refill on your horse pills.

Bingo!

The veterinarian business model is pretty much healthcare totally laid bare to the free market--and its cheap.

(06-28-2017 10:38 AM)dfarr Wrote:  I stumbled upon an example of how competition and the free market can help lower health care costs. Where I live there is 1 hospital, about 200+ beds and they are also the only place to get most of your radiological tests done. Some offices do have their own xray machine or MRI machine, but for the most part everyone is sent to the outpatient radiology department at the hospital or to a satellite facility also run by the hospital.

Recently a new, independent radiology facility has opened up that has xray, ultrasound, ct scan, and MRI, basically nearly every type of imaging someone would need. The manager came to my office yesterday to load software on our computers which allows us to view films done at their facility. I started talking to her about what we typically order and if they could accommodate us. We then started talking price. She said there was a lady who either had no insurance or had a large deductible and she needed a ct scan done. She was quoted a price of $270 for the imaging and radiologist interpretation at the new facility. The patient then said that she had spoken to the hospital who said they would give her a 45% discount since she was essentially paying cash. So, the lady went over to the hospital and got the actual price and was quoted a little over $1k for the same scan.

It's competition like this that bends the cost curve down. I know not everything in health care is as flexible as radiological prices, but its something that shows that the free market can actually work and help people. If the government paid for everything then the new radiology place would charge the same as the hospital, thus costing 4x more.

Id be interested if the local system doesnt have a JV in place with them...

I bet they do. Wouldn't ever know by the branding or anything, doubt the IT guy who helped you with the software even knows.

I agree with the overall premise of your post.




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(06-28-2017 01:06 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  absolutely dfarr...

the real problem with transparency on medical services is that there is a difference between offering a single service (easy to quote) and 'providing care'... which can involve all sorts of other things. Things like DRGs and bundled payments (as you know) only further complicate the issue, yet they are an important part of the ACA and government attempts to control costs (by edict).

Long waits. No cutting edge treatments.

Plenty of ways to control costs.