Sustainable Healthcare Unachievable With Drastic Overcapacity
October 3rd, 2006 | Posted in Feature, Health, Society
I experienced the American healthcare system at its best and worst over the last few days. And after this morning’s experience I’m left wondering how long this country can keep going like this. Let me tell you what happened.
My ankle’s been hurting for a while so I made an appointment two weeks ago to see my doctor. I went to see him last Monday and he prescribed an x-ray. He called me two days later with the diagnosis . . . I needed to see a specialist. I saw an orthopedic surgeon yesterday. He said I needed to get an MRI. His assistant called a clinic and got me an appointment sixteen hours later. Now that’s service. It’s 10am on the eighth day after I first went to see my primary care physician, and in six more I’m going see my orthopedist again to discuss the results of my MRI. What’s so bad about that?
Well nothing that actually happened to me - except the copays . . . woe is me. This experience reinforced how disparate health care in this country is. I work and live in an urban area and see people every day who need just a minimal level of care to dramatically improve the quality of their lives. I may be in the minority but I’d be willing to wait just a little longer to have my non-emergency diagnosed if healthcare resources could be redistributed to those who need it more urgently.
Over capacity is the problem in America. It’s not that there aren’t enough resources. It’s that there are so many that sit idle for so long the cost to access them becomes prohibitive. If I own an MRI machine that’s only used a few times a week I’m going to charge more to use it because I need to recoup my expenses. The equilibrium falls at such a point that even people with the means to pay for the exam need very expensive insurance to cover its costs. What kills me is that the assistant at my doctor’s office even told me the MRI clinic is pretty open so I could name a time that worked for me. Pretty open? How much does one of those machines cost? Who made the decision to allow it to remain idle that long every week?
I had a conversation with a Canadian once (yes, they exist) who told me that medical care isn’t measurably worse in the Canada, it’s just more efficient, and therefore more affordable. I would not have been able to get an MRI within sixteen hours of my doctor recommending one in Canada. Is that such a bad thing? I’m able to function, my condition is not getting worse and it’s not life-threatening. I think I can wait a bit. Do I want to? Of course not, but if it means the less fortunate have access to the care they need then the answer is a resounding yes. And we all no preventive care saves costs in the long run.
I’m no health care expert and I’m sure we’re short on resources in certain areas and of certain types. But, fewer MRI machines means more vaccinations for children and earlier diagnosis of very preventable diseases. In no industry but the bloated health care industry would over capacity like this be able to sustain itself. A glut of housing is front page news. Extra manufacturing capacity is quickly outsourced or utilized for producing something else. But, a lonesome MRI machine sitting in an office building shared with a jeweler across the street from a Neiman Marcus only drives up costs and eliminates access. Well, at least for some us.
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