Controlling Medical Costs
I screwed up yesterday. My son went in for his one year physical. As the doctor was examining him, he noticed that my son's spleen was larger than he thought it should be. The doctor considered having a CAT scan done, but settled on an ultrasound. We consented to the test, along with a blood work up.
I admire the doctors throroughness in his job, but I am now questioning my attentiveness in controlling medical expenses. Hey... it was covered by insurance, why should I worry? This is the exact problem with the medical system at this time. Since the money isn't coming out of my pocket, I don't check it before deciding what tests I am willing to pay hard earned cash. The Ultrasound will cost approximately $400 (at least that was what it was last time). I don't know what the blood work will cost. The end result of the test was negative, but we will also be visiting the doctor again in 6 weeks so he can feel the spleen again.
If I had been more attentive, I should have discussed the options with the doctor a little more thoroughly. Just waiting 6 weeks and letting the doctor see him again may have been a more cost effective and reasoned approach. My son had no other indications. Happy, lively, active, rambunctious, eating, drinking, pooping and peeing. A couple of mild sicknesses so far, but nothing out of the ordinary. Apparently, spleens have been known to change sizes in babies as they are growing. Maybe 6 weeks would be too much, but 3 weeks probably wouldn't have been. If the enlarged spleen was still a concern at the slightly later date, we could start to be a little more concerned and take more significant steps at clearing the spleen.
Another options might be to reduce the cost and increase the availability of testing techniques. If techniques like digital ultrasound, CAT, XRay, and MRI are adopted, then significant cost savings can be achieved (just through the loss of the media maintenance). Other means can also be used (smaller, cheaper, machines available on demand).
The only problem with cheaper tests is that they can lead to even worse abuse.
Healthcare must be the responsibility of the patient not the doctor. We must be the ones determining what drugs we take, what therapies to undergo, and how we live our lives. When a doctor wants to give you a test, ask him how much it is going to cost and what the alternatives are. I got tested for strep several months ago. The doctor gave me two swabs. A 15 minute test and a 24 hour test. Each cost $80. If I had known this ahead of time, I probably would have just had him do the 24 hour test (since it is apparently more accurate). I can suffer the night for $80.
I will strive to minimize the cost of my healthcare to my employer. I hope that all who read this will do their best also.
Brad
