Slightly old, yet interesting article about the US Healthcare System as this MD responds to Michael Moore's "Sicko".
Do his numbers sound correct to the MD's on the forum?
Our healthcare system itself is the leading cause of death overall, followed by heart disease and cancer!
If our healthcare system is responsible for more than 700,000 deaths a year from medical errors, hospital infections, bed sores, surgical errors, drug reactions, and more, which lead to an extra $250 billion in costs, do we want more people to be exposed to this type of care?
Other excerpts:
You see, the healthcare industry and the food industry profit from us being sick and fat. All the incentives are backwards.
The American doctor gets paid thousands of dollars for doing angioplasties and stent procedures and maybe 30 dollars for talking to someone about their cholesterol. Though doctors are generally well meaning, well-intentioned people, the healthcare system appeals to their dark side. Do more procedures, provide more invasive care, and get paid more -- EVEN if it ultimately does not benefit the patient.
In American healthcare, the outcome of that care is mostly ignored -- namely, the health of the patient!
Promoting and treating sickness should not generate more profit. Creating health should.
You can watch his video on the right of the page if you don't want to read the whole transcript.
Sicko Part I - Why Michael Moore is flat out wrong about healthcare...
Do his numbers sound correct to the MD's on the forum?
Our healthcare system itself is the leading cause of death overall, followed by heart disease and cancer!
If our healthcare system is responsible for more than 700,000 deaths a year from medical errors, hospital infections, bed sores, surgical errors, drug reactions, and more, which lead to an extra $250 billion in costs, do we want more people to be exposed to this type of care?
Other excerpts:
You see, the healthcare industry and the food industry profit from us being sick and fat. All the incentives are backwards.
The American doctor gets paid thousands of dollars for doing angioplasties and stent procedures and maybe 30 dollars for talking to someone about their cholesterol. Though doctors are generally well meaning, well-intentioned people, the healthcare system appeals to their dark side. Do more procedures, provide more invasive care, and get paid more -- EVEN if it ultimately does not benefit the patient.
In American healthcare, the outcome of that care is mostly ignored -- namely, the health of the patient!
Promoting and treating sickness should not generate more profit. Creating health should.
You can watch his video on the right of the page if you don't want to read the whole transcript.
Sicko Part I - Why Michael Moore is flat out wrong about healthcare...
