I’m seeing my dentist tomorrow for a cleaning. I go two or three times a year. Last year I even wrote about going to Costa Rica for a dental visit to have an implant finished. While I was there, I had some aging veneers that were deteriorating replaced with crowns. I see my dentist far more than I see my primary care physician. Whereas I can have lab tests performed even if I don’t see my physician, the same is not true of dental visits. Dental visits are hands-on. There are no substitutes for dental examinations or dental hygienist cleanings. Yet, many people neglect dental care due to the cost, often made less convenient by a lack of dentists in their immediate area.
Category: Health Reform
George Halvorson on Amputations: Medicare v. MA Plans
Medicare Patients are currently 10 times more likely to have amputations than higher income patients. Those amputations currently cost Medicare over $100,000 each…. The Medicare Advantage plans do basic care process design to help those patients. The Medicare Advantage care teams know that almost 90 percent of amputations are caused by foot ulcers. The plans all know…
Nurses Join the Gig Economy
Hospitals are becoming part of the Gig Economy as administrators turn to staffing apps to fill shifts when internal staffing is low. The transition to more temporary nurses is fueled by a shortage that has given nurses more control over their schedule. Nurses are turning to the apps to manage when they work or pick up extra shifts as the gig work invades hospitals like it has other areas of the economy.
Beyond House Calls, the Next Big Thing is Hospital Care in the Home
Hospitals are the most expensive place to get medical care in the health care industry. Hospitals consume nearly one-third of health care expenditures, accounting for more than $1.33 trillion a year. I often advise people to never get anything done at a hospital if they are physically able to go anywhere else. For example, my wife unknowingly started to make an appointment for an outpatient CT scan at a nearby hospital.