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The Business Aspect of New PC Treatments

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Posted 8/4/2009 2:03 PM (GMT 0)
I am a bit hesitant to post this link for fear of setting off unproductive flame wars about insurance company greed and private companies offering expensive health care. But the article does make good and balanced points about the costs of new treatments.

www.philly.com/philly/business/20090804_Debate_surrounds_new_prostate-cancer_treatment.html
Posted 8/4/2009 2:21 PM (GMT 0)
geezer, it was good to post that. i think the article is well balanced, and brought up good points and issues on both sides. the money side of our affliction scares the hades out of me sometimes, and the large urban areas, the competion for us PC patients is ruthless, with all the gimmicks and hype of a cheap used car lot. I saw evidence of that when my wife and I went on vacation in st. petersburg, fl in april, all the competing billboards, it sickened me.

good posting. let the chips fall where they may.

david in sc
Posted 8/4/2009 2:36 PM (GMT 0)
I thought it was well balanced, too. Kind of surprised in that it didn't bring up HIFU. It will be interesting to see if anyone responds with that one.

My total costs weren't anything close to what the article quoted for "open surgery" but I know the areas of the country vary so much.

Posted 8/4/2009 3:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hi geezer, interesting article, thanks for posting.

As a Canadian I'm not exposed as much to the business of medicine as Americans are and so it's especially interesting to see this commented on. While there is a downside to having advisors with a financial stake in the advice they give there is also benefit in competition driven by reward, be it monetary or other motivator.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless
Posted 8/4/2009 5:02 PM (GMT 0)
Geezer,
Good post. Anyone thinking that business issues and some conflicts of interests don't influence a doctor's recommendation are nieve. doctor's have owernship in surgery centers and scanning facilities that they recommend. A radiation center that gets a lot of referrals from a surgeon for patients not eligable for surgery because of age or extent of disease may give a different recommendation on a patient refered for a 2nd opinion when the surgeon has already recommended surgery. Who is the radiologist's real customer, the patient or the surgeon?
Why are so many bone and CT scans ordered for patients with low PSA when we know that anything under a PSA of 20 will never show on a scan.
PC is a profitable business for a lot of doctor. There is an internal fight going on because radiologists think they are better equiped to do biopsies with new technology, whereas urologists don't want to give up this profitable business. Who was ever refered to an oncologist for a 2nd opinion by a urologist for low or intermediate grade PC?
JohnT
Posted 8/4/2009 6:28 PM (GMT 0)
speaking of costs, my davinci bills have been rolling in and looks like the cost based on the insurance numbers will be under $7000, I was surprised, thought it would be lot more, maybe more to come but that seems to include the hosptal, surgeon and anethesilogist and radiology.

Cost before insurance adjustments was over $45,000, that is why we need managed care for all.
Posted 8/4/2009 6:41 PM (GMT 0)
John T
One claim is that doctors order these tests out of fear of malpractice lawsuits. If most other docs order them and your doc doesn't how are you going to react if you are that rare person whose cancer has spread.

Tort reform is a tough business. Yes there are bad doctors who should compensate you for poor treatment. I hope that the current health reform package ends up establishing ways of determining "best practices" and that this will give shelter to the doctors who follow them.
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