For practically everyone with incomes south of Bill Gates, health-care costs have become a regular irritation. Polls suggest that while most Americans generally approve of the care they receive, they don’t appreciate its cost.
All sides in the system, doctors and patients alike, have a role to play in addressing this problem. While medical facilities should provide the prices of medical procedures and treatments in advance, Americans should also get used to the idea of talking about the price of the services they receive.
Cheaper Alternative Treatment Never Mentioned
Consider my recent trip to the emergency room with a bout of kidney stones. While discussing care with the resident physician, I made a reference to staff doing a CT scan, as had occurred the previous times I had kidney stones. At first, the staff seemed hesitant to go down this route but eventually sent me for a scan.
When I reviewed the chart following my stay, because of concerns about subpar care, I found the doctors had noted I “requested” a CT scan. I also discovered an order for an ultrasound, a procedure the doctors never mentioned to me.
I honestly don’t know whether I received the proper care while in the hospital. The copy of the internal “review” that George Washington University Hospital undertook about my case contained nothing about the substance of my care, other than its claim that it acted appropriately (they would say that, wouldn’t they?). But the physician assistant I saw for follow-up care, who
