Just what is healthcare reform anyway?

by Jonathan H. Burroughs That was a question a physician asked me at dinner last week and I answered simply, "World-class quality, safety and service at half the price." Healthcare reform/transformation is a problem in the guise of a political conflict. What the two political parties argue over is who has the legal right to control and regulate the healthcare market: the federal government, state governments or private industry. This is a war that has been waged since we began as a nation and it shows no sign of slowing. Unfortunately, while corporate lobbyists spend hundreds of millions of dollars to defend their entrenched positions, our country is losing the increasingly global competition to provide high-quality, low-cost healthcare services. Medical tourism is the fastest growing healthcare sector. In 2006, it was a $25 billion industry; today it is a $125 billion industry that is projected to double every two to three years. Why did almost 1 million Americans go abroad last year for healthcare services? They could not find what they were looking for anywhere in this country. Consider the typical story of a Dallas business executive who could not find anyone to do a repair of his knee meniscus under epidural anesthesia for under $32,000. For $9,000 he and his wife flew first class to Monterey, Mexico, where he underwent surgery by an American-trained orthopedic surgeon under epidural anesthesia at a Joint Commission International-accredited hospital, received p...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs