Posted on 06/14/2007 12:02:29 AM PDT by neverdem
Stark evidence that high medical payments do not necessarily buy high-quality patient care is presented in a hospital study set for release today.
In a Pennsylvania government survey of the state’s 60 hospitals that perform heart bypass surgery, the best-paid hospital received nearly $100,000, on average, for the operation while the least-paid got less than $20,000. At both, patients had comparable lengths of stay and death rates.
And among the 20 hospitals serving metropolitan Philadelphia, two of the highest paid actually had higher-than-expected death rates, the survey found.
Hospitals say there are numerous reasons for some of the high payments, including the fact that a single very expensive case can push up the averages.
Still, the Pennsylvania findings support a growing national consensus that as consumers, insurers and employers pay more for care, they are not necessarily getting better care. Expensive medicine may, in fact, be poor medicine.
“For most consumers, the fact that there is no connection between quality and cost is one of the dirty secrets of medicine,” said Peter V. Lee, the chief executive of the Pacific Business Group on Health, a California group of employers that provide health care coverage for workers.
Some Pennsylvania employers said the state’s findings, based on data from 2005, might put more pressure on insurance carriers and hospitals to start demonstrating the value of care. “It now provides us a tool to have a serious dialogue with our carriers,” said Mark Dever, a benefits consultant for Duquesne Light, a regional utility in Pittsburgh...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Am I reading that right? Lower Bucks is the highest paid?
Yes
Cardiac Surgery in Pennsylvania (pdf)
The press release didn't seem as bad as the Times' story. I didn't read the second link.
I think they realized they were getting lower bucks so they raised their price to catch up.
Higher death rates may be due to better hospitals taking on the high risk cases. Also, some of the high cost hospitals may be doing the research that eventually is used by the low cost ones.
we had spaghetti at our house 3 times last week
ping
Is that really so surprising?
In college, I had a friend who said: "You get what you pay for. More expensive is always better."
I said: "I'm selling a car for $5,000. It's kind of a junker -- but if you wanr a better car, I'm willing to sell it to you with the special price of $10,000."
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