PLEASE COMMENT IN DETAIL
When I reported my very favorable recent experience with the health care system to a friend the other day, he added that we couldn't as a nation continue on the current path.
He argues that, while our system is wonderful, it is unacceptably expensive, eating up roughly 50% of all government budgets and climbing.
What should we do?
Allow more private practitioners?
Cut back services?
Do serious audits on hospitals, for example, to cut away administrative costs?
Learn how to cost out surgical operations?
Pay doctors flat rates?
Allow nurses more responsibilities?
Please share your thoughts on this crucial and central issue. We are an aging population and the costs for our health care can only increase.
Can we afford what we have? Can we afford to not have what we have? What can and must we do to make it all more workable?
I encourage you on this page to a full and vigorous debate.
Thank you in advance.
3 comments:
I think we need a position as a "practical doctor", more educated than a nurse, but less qualified than a GP.
A "practical doctor" would take care of the 'run of the mill' type problems such as colds, flu, minor stitches, etc. The P.D. would triage patients to more expert care if need be.
I understand that many European countries have such a system.
One of the first areas I'd be looking at to begin making changes would be to audit the top heavy ($$$$) health units and administration costs. I'd be willing to bet that is where a lot of the health care budget dollars are going... and not into actual patient care, hospitals, nursing staff, hospital equipment, etc.
June
We have Nurse Practictioners who already do the services as described by anonymous.
It would be a matter of training more of them and utilizing them.
Linda Yuill, LPN
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