Information Prescriptions
from the seems-more-complex-than-necessary dept
Just a reminder that healthcare is a business. We know that plenty of people go online to look up information about medical problems, and that not all information online is trustworthy. So, what do you do about it? One company is trying to convince doctors to write "information therapy" prescriptions that point people to specific websites they should look at. Of course, doctors need incentive to do this, so the plan is to charge patients a nominal fee ($1) for each of these information prescriptions. Half of that dollar goes to the doctor to encourage him or her to give out this info, and then some of the money goes to the information provider as well. The company suggesting this plan says it won't really affect patients because (of course) insurance will cover it. That this might cause insurance rates to increase doesn't seem to occur to them. Also, that this is trying to charge patients just for links to information that might make them healthier, also doesn't seem to bother them.
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No Subject Given
The bogus part is the amount: $1 is a lot to pay for a brochure. But in principle this could be useful and reasonable.
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Re: No Subject Given
What comes next? The doctor's appointment is only $25. But, the *diagnoses* is $100? I shouldn't feel like my doctor is holding back information from me unless she is getting an additional cut.
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No Subject Given
As a generalization, we haven't even scrathced the surface of how to use this stuff to make us all more healthly, at a lower cost.
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