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Healthcare flushes $800bn down the drain annually
by Jaspreet Kaur - October 27, 2009
Washington, October 27 -- According to a report released by Thomson Reuters on Monday, the U.S. healthcare system squanders a lot of funds and approximately $505 billion to $850 billion go waste every year. Healthcare system in the country can be improved by simply taking care of the inadequacies and fighting against frauds
Thomson Reuters discovered that healthcare costs can be drastically cut down by avoiding errors, combating frauds, and repairing some of the most visible inefficiencies in the healthcare system
One-third of the country’s healthcare bill wasted: Kelley
The latest report says, “America’s healthcare system is indeed haemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial.”
Robert Kelley, Vice-President of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters was quoted as saying, “The bad news is that an estimated $700 billion is wasted annually. That’s one-third of the nation’s healthcare bill.”
He further added, “The good news is that by attacking waste we can reduce healthcare costs without adversely affecting the quality of care or access to care.”
Citing one example, Kelley explained that a paper-based system that does not allow the sharing of medical records leads to an increase in the yearly overspending by 6 percent.
The report by Thomson Reuters reads, “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.”
Important findings of the new report
Following are some of the other important findings that have been mentioned in the report from Thomson Reuters:
1. Excessive use of antibiotics and lab tests to guard against mismanagement accounts for 37 percent of healthcare waste. This is equivalent to $200 to $300 billion a year.
2. Frauds and scams constitute 22 percent of healthcare waste. This means fake Medicare claims, bribes for referrals of unnecessary services etc. eat up to $200 billion annually.
3. 18 percent of healthcare waste is attributed to unnecessary paperwork and the incompetence prevalent in the administrative departments.
4. Medical mistakes lead to losses ranging between $50 billion to $100 billion.
5. Avoidable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion annually.
Healthcare system bad when compared to Canada's
The report also reads, “The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada.”
The new report also makes a reference to the 2003 New England Journal of Medicine paper by Harvard University researcher Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, where it was found that, “American physicians spend nearly eight hours per week on paperwork and employ 1.66 clerical workers per doctor, far more than in Canada.”
Even with the presence of so much workforce, primary care doctors are not enough in the country, and the emergency services are not utilized properly. The system surely needs a brush-up if the common people have to benefit.
Healthcare flushes $800bn down the drain annually | The Money Times
by Jaspreet Kaur - October 27, 2009
Washington, October 27 -- According to a report released by Thomson Reuters on Monday, the U.S. healthcare system squanders a lot of funds and approximately $505 billion to $850 billion go waste every year. Healthcare system in the country can be improved by simply taking care of the inadequacies and fighting against frauds
Thomson Reuters discovered that healthcare costs can be drastically cut down by avoiding errors, combating frauds, and repairing some of the most visible inefficiencies in the healthcare system
One-third of the country’s healthcare bill wasted: Kelley
The latest report says, “America’s healthcare system is indeed haemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial.”
Robert Kelley, Vice-President of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters was quoted as saying, “The bad news is that an estimated $700 billion is wasted annually. That’s one-third of the nation’s healthcare bill.”
He further added, “The good news is that by attacking waste we can reduce healthcare costs without adversely affecting the quality of care or access to care.”
Citing one example, Kelley explained that a paper-based system that does not allow the sharing of medical records leads to an increase in the yearly overspending by 6 percent.
The report by Thomson Reuters reads, “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.”
Important findings of the new report
Following are some of the other important findings that have been mentioned in the report from Thomson Reuters:
1. Excessive use of antibiotics and lab tests to guard against mismanagement accounts for 37 percent of healthcare waste. This is equivalent to $200 to $300 billion a year.
2. Frauds and scams constitute 22 percent of healthcare waste. This means fake Medicare claims, bribes for referrals of unnecessary services etc. eat up to $200 billion annually.
3. 18 percent of healthcare waste is attributed to unnecessary paperwork and the incompetence prevalent in the administrative departments.
4. Medical mistakes lead to losses ranging between $50 billion to $100 billion.
5. Avoidable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion annually.
Healthcare system bad when compared to Canada's
The report also reads, “The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada.”
The new report also makes a reference to the 2003 New England Journal of Medicine paper by Harvard University researcher Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, where it was found that, “American physicians spend nearly eight hours per week on paperwork and employ 1.66 clerical workers per doctor, far more than in Canada.”
Even with the presence of so much workforce, primary care doctors are not enough in the country, and the emergency services are not utilized properly. The system surely needs a brush-up if the common people have to benefit.
Healthcare flushes $800bn down the drain annually | The Money Times
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