American Healthcare Myth #1: Cost controls stifle innovation

[emsimon33]

False. The United States is home to groundbreaking medical research, but
so are other countries with much lower cost structures. Any American
who's had a hip or knee replacement is standing on French innovation.
Deep-brain stimulation to treat depression is a Canadian breakthrough.
Many of the wonder drugs promoted endlessly on American television,
including Viagra, come from British, Swiss or Japanese labs.

Overseas, strict cost controls actually drive innovation. In the United
States, an MRI scan of the neck region costs about $1,500. In Japan, the
identical scan costs $98. Under the pressure of cost controls, Japanese
researchers found ways to perform the same diagnostic technique for
one-fifteenth the American price. (And Japanese labs still make a profit.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101778_2.html

[NC_Nurse]

1. Excellent article. K&R

[NYC_SKP]

2. Indeed, sometimes the opposite is true. (K and R)

Scant resources and strict limitations can also promote great ingenuity.

The original specification for a military scout car to replace the cavalry and motorcycle led to the development of a marvel of engineering:

The Willys MB/Ford GPW design.

It was to have almost unheard of capabilities yet had to be incredibly lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture.



Contrast this to the hulking, yet capable, HUMVEE specification, designed with very liberal budgetary considerations.



For my money, the MB/GPW is a far more remarkable development!

:patriot:

[BeFree]

3. You've hit on the next big thing: Cost control

It is the elephant in the room.

Now that we've busted down the wall between gov and health payers, everyone should now turn to cost containment.

As an example, your 15 times higher costs for the MRI's. That's gonna have to end.

[Cerridwen]

5. And number of providers.

Lab techs, nurses, doctors, etc.

In order to keep costs "competitive," the med schools assn. kept new student enrollments down. We're, literally, paying the price for that now.

[BeFree]

6. Went to see a doc one time

They were busy as hell, so I couldn't get an appointment.

Kind nurse asked me what was wrong. Told her my symptoms.
She gave me the advice I needed and in a week I was fine.
No wonder they are keeping the number of nurses down, eh?

[Cerridwen]

7. Interesting.

I hadn't thought of that angle.

[BeFree]

8. I've dated a few nurses, and a doc

The nurses all told me they do all the work anyway. And the one doc was as street dumb as could be. I shoulda married her?

[Cerridwen]

10. Yeah, nurses definitely do the heavy lifting. No pun intended though

it's frequently true.

I've known some good doctors and some who are insufferable and others who should be banned from treating a paper-cut. I've also met a few nurses and techs about whom I could say the same.

As with anything involving people, it's a mixed bag. Another reason why I hate it when they work to limit the pool.

I wouldn't dare give marriage advice. :)

[Political Heretic]

4. Great: too bad there are any serious cost controls in HCR

[Greyhound]

9. Remove the profit motive and real science flourishes. Profit-driven science

gives you stagnation. We've been standing still for almost a decade, that's a long time to make up and dragging along a corporate millstone is no way to win a race.