solved 1st postIt was difficult for me to come up with

1st postIt was difficult for me to come up with one change I think that needs to happen to help our current healthcare system. Even in the meeting of the minds video, they alI had ways to point fingers and come up with different solutions, not in a way of working together but in a way of being right. have witnessed Medicare first hand with my own mother and mother –in-law. That system doesn’t work and I am scared, based on Medicare and Medicaid, to allow government to run my healthcare needs and practice. Capitalism to has not proven to be a great source for running healthcare, price gauging, behind door deals. So, what to do? If you went out to eat at a restaurant and after you sat down you saw the menu, you had a lot of choices but no prices were posted. You asked your server and they told you, “it depends.” You ask, “Depends on what? Their response, “how much bread you ask for, if you need a lot of refills or your order isn’t the way you like it and I have to make a lot of changes, and tonight, all odd numbered tables get 10%, and there’s a few other things but I can’t tell you.” Would you stay and eat not knowing what your bill was before you ate? I would not.So that is the something I wish to change. More transparency in billing of care along with paying of the care. Providers not only bill differently, but insurance companies pay differently. 2 people having the same procedure with 2 different bills, then the insurance can pay 2 different ways, leaving both patients stuck with 2 different amounts. Both call the providers to ask questions about their bill and both are told something different. Then one credit agent tells one patient you have 30 days to pay your balance or go to collections and the other one was given a deduction off their bill because the biller has the discretion to do that. These types of practice are just the tip of the iceberg. In one controlled study at Johns Hopkins, displaying the Medicare Allowable Rates for lab tests to hospital physicians in the order-entry system led to substantial decreases in orders for certain higher-cost lab tests and resulted in a more than-$400,000 net cost reduction over the course of a six-month intervention period.(Feldman, et al. 2013) As stated by Himmelstein et al., “Most of the administrative costs in the US health care system (at least 62% based on prior studies) has been attributed to billing and insurance-related activities (described as billing hereafter). Billing costs are disproportionately high in the United States: for instance, in primary care practice, performing these activities in the United States costs nearly 4 times more than performing the corresponding activities in Canada.” (Himmelstein, et al. 2014). All of these hands in the pot affect the cost and practices of healthcare. If there was more transparency, I think these kinds of cost would be found and eliminated. Like a menu in a restaurant, I want to know what I’m expected to see before the bill comes, not days later in multiple pages, or just one stating price, what did I order, what did I get, seems pretty plain and simple. 2nd postThere is not a fix all for healthcare, it will take many different
approaches and solutions to “fix” our healthcare system. We need to
reduce costs and improve healthcare outcomes. If I had to pick one
solution or the most important solution in healthcare, I would say it’s a
combination of addressing social determinants to healthcare and putting
more money into preventive medicine. Deaths from drug overdose and
suicide are a large factor in decreasing life expectancy in the United
States. (Devitt, 2018) Family physicians and primary care doctors need
to focus more on screening and preventing these tragic deaths. Chronic
diseases such as heart disease and diabetes continue to increase and put
a significant burden on healthcare costs. The National Association of
Chain Drug Stores and Healthcare Leadership Council addressed Congress
with a Preventive Health Savings Act that would focus on wellness,
disease prevention, to ultimately decrease costs and improve health. The
letter states chronic disease as “responsible for seven out of 10
deaths among Americans each year, and they account for more than 80
percent of the $2.7 trillion our nation spends annually on medical
care –statistics that will only worsen as the population ages.” (NACDS
LENDS SUPPORT TO PREVENTIVE HEALTH SAVINGS ACT LEGISLATION PROVIDES A
PROACTIVE, INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO PREVENTING CHRONIC DISEASE AND
REDUCING OVERALL HEALTHCARE COSTS, 2017) Addressing social determinants
in healthcare aligns with addressing chronic diseases and preventive
healthcare as well. We need to address lack of access to healthcare
services by addressing these barriers such as transportation, housing,
clean water, and food.