Why Can't Healthcare Solve Its Own Problems?
Scott D. Hayworth MD,
President and CEO
Mount Kisco (N.Y.) Medical Group
Up until now there have been too many stakeholders. With the consolidation going on, I am optimistic that we could solve our problems on our own. You are seeing doctors leaving smaller practices and joining either larger multispecialty groups like mine or joining hospital systems. It is much easier to transform a larger group of hospitals and doctors working together than it is changing multiple individuals.
The greatest opportunities come from working together. There is no more money in the system, so we all have to figure out how to provide better quality care for less money. We can do it more on the system level than on the individual level.
There is going to be a lot more regulation. Good regulation is excellent; unfortunately, a lot of regulation that comes down gets in the way of what we need to do. These mandates do nothing about liability and that is a key cost driver and a key issue for all of us taking care of patients.
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Bernard Emkes (11/16/2012 at 9:15 AM)
For 2 years I have suggested three things that woould probably fix 80% of the health cost issues of the country. 1. Enforced and increased personal accountability and responsibility 2. Tort reform as suggested in the article - immunity when protocols are followed. 3. Limiting end-of-life care (or at least what society pays for) to evidence based care. If these three priciples were in place there would be little or no need for federal interventions.