The Homa Files

Ken’s Take: Keep in mind that (1) medical tort reform isn’t even on the negotiating table, (2) much of the “billing & administration” is feeding the Medicare / Medicaid systems, and (3) they’ve been chasing the same fraud dollars for decades.

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Excerpted from Reuters: US Health Care Wastes Up to $800 Billion a Year, Oct 26,2009

The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, according to a report from Thomson Reuters – Healthcare Analytics.

One example — a paper-based system that discourages sharing of medical records accounts for 6 percent of annual overspending.

“It is waste when caregivers duplicate tests because results recorded in a patient’s record with one provider are not available to another or when medical staff provides inappropriate treatment because relevant history of previous treatment cannot be accessed,” the report reads.

Some other findings in the report from Thomson Reuters:

• Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 a year.
• Fraud makes up 22 percent of healthcare waste, or up to $200 billion a year in fraudulent Medicare claims, kickbacks for referrals for unnecessary services and other scams.
• Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork account for 18 percent of healthcare waste.
• Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary spending each year, or 11 percent of the total.
• Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.
• Wasteful use of emergency rooms due to a lack of primary care doctors.

“The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada.”

“American physicians spend nearly eight hours per week on paperwork and employ 1.66 clerical workers per doctor, far more than in Canada.”

Source article:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33477157#

This entry was posted on October 28, 2009 at 7:45 am and is filed under Health Care / Medical Insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.