Food For Thought...

Welcome to our blog. Before diving into our political stance and beliefs about Inpatient care we felt it was important to start off by just thinking about the role of inpatient care within the U.S. Healthcare system. The following was written in 2006 and is taken from the following link (visit the website to see the whole article):

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/55912.php

According to Abramson, "[F]acts show that these enormous expenditures may be buying us the best amenities in medical care -- but not the best health." A Dartmouth Medical School study found that "perhaps a third of medical spending is now devoted to services that don't appear to improve health or the quality of care -- and may make things worse," Abramson writes, adding, "This means that the U.S. is wasting more than $650 billion a year -- half again more than the entire Defense Department will spend this year, including the cost of the war in Iraq -- on unnecessary and often harmful care." He says, "One factor is specialists. Both U.S. and international studies show that the more a health care system relies on primary care, the better the outcomes and the lower the cost. But American medicine is heavy on specialists and getting heavier." In addition, according to Abramson, "Our government has become almost fundamentalist in its reliance on market-based, pro-business solutions to social problems." He continues, "No politician wants to be tarred with the charge of promoting 'socialized medicine.'"

If studies show that it is benificial for cost and outcomes to rely more on primary care then that means the way we look at an handle inpatient care may need to be adjusted. How much of that "wasted" money (COST), and "unnecessary and harmful care" (QUALITY) is resulted from the way inpatient care functions? My guess is that inpatient care takes up a large portion of those numbers.

What are your reactions to this article? What are your immediate thoughts on the way inpatient care functions in our country? Share your thoughts, ideas, and beliefs!

Coming Soon: Our Beliefs and Values....stay tuned.