Comments on: Career decisions shed light on health care crisis solutions

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:04:55 +0000

Mark W, in reference to the Hospital in Cooperstown, NY. They pay their doctors a salary and those so called doctors pass all of the work onto the Physician's Assistants and patients never even talk to the actual doctors. My Mother went there several times over a year ago because she couldn't keep food down and her abdomen was swollen to the size of a 8-month pregnant woman. They could not find anything wrong with her and just kept telling her to "drink clear fluids". Mom knew something was seriously wrong so drove from NY to Dallas (where all of their children live) and immediately went to the emergency room. She was diagnosed with Stage 3C Ovarian Cancer within 2 hours! Recently her Oncologist suggested she have a mammogram as her breasts didn't look and feel right. So they ordered the films from the Mammogram they did in Cooperstown a year ago and low and behold, there was an obvious large cancer mass that no one seemed to be able to see. Now a year later, the mass is even larger. So, I'm sorry, but the "salary" idea does not work, especially in Cooperstown, NY. That is a horrible place that, as far as I'm concerned, will cost my mother her life! I have no idea how it keeps getting such rave reviews! I'm sure, like everything else in the medical industry, money will pretty much buy anything.

By: Kitchen Towels `

Kitchen Towels ` — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:27:52 +0000

we can always avail of food stamps if we can't afford great food:,'

By: mysticaltyger

mysticaltyger — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 03:10:09 +0000

Thanks for the link, Mark!

By: mysticaltyger

mysticaltyger — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 03:08:50 +0000

Well said, Jay!!! Very true. The underlying problem of our health care system is lack of competition on many different levels.

Even with just allopathic medicine, it is highly uncompetitive. Most of us have limited options in government or employer sponsored plans and the health care market does not cater to individuals.

Why can't health insurance cater to individuals just like car insurance does????

By: FatBurningFurnace

FatBurningFurnace — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:32:02 +0000

One way to understand the possibilities for solving the US health care crisis is to take a better look at how people make career decisions.

By: Rosie

Rosie — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:27:59 +0000

Clare,
People in the US are turned away from doctor's offices every day for lack of insurance. That is why so many uninsured end up in E.R.s with conditions that could be treated much more economically through a regular doctor. And even E.R.s don't always take the uninsured – just a few years ago in Chicago there was a news story about a gunshot victim left to die outside a hospital because he had no id or proof of insurance.

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watch online movies — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:48:05 +0000

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By: Danielle

Danielle — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:37:08 +0000

As a Canadian, I can tell you that it is a misconception that Canadians routinely run south for procedures. I can't think of a single person in Canada who is unhappy with our health care system's "socialist" aspects, although I am sure these people exist. In fact, most people I know, myself included, would like to see it go the OTHER way – to covering prescriptions and dental care as well.

In Canada, we are much amused by Americans and their utter terror at the idea of the government controlling health care. They do it with your police service, firefighting, etc and no one complains because that is how it has always been done. Americans need to man up, take the leap and consider the long-term time horizon.

I should also mention that as a Canadian med school hopeful, I am more aware than the average person about the shortcomings of our system. But even with this knowledge, I still feel incredibly thankful to live in Canada and not the States.

And on a related note, Canadian doctors are paid significantly less than their American counterparts, but our med school tuition is also substantially less.

By: Mark W.

Mark W. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:46:44 +0000

There's a relatively small healthcare outfit in upstate NY (Cooperstown) named Bassett Healthcare (25 health clinics, 13 school-based clinics, 4 hospitals, and a nursing home) where costs are lower than 90 percent of the hospitals in NY while quality of care ranks among the top 10 percent in the nation. Bassett Healthcare controls their costs by paying their doctors by salary rather than a fee for service business model. They also employ what they call an integrated health care delivery where primary care physicians and specialists work together as a team for the patient. They are not for profit and their missions are to employ doctors, teach nursing students, and conduct research. There's a good New York Times article on them at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/health/policy/25doctors.html .

By: mysticaltyger

mysticaltyger — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:36:31 +0000

Thank you for saying this, Bob! I've been saying this forever but no one believes me!