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As someone who lives in a country with socialized medicine, (Canada), the discussion of hospitals removing "normal" (shared) rooms to replace them with more-pro
by jbeales 9y ago
As someone who lives in a country with socialized medicine, (Canada), the discussion of hospitals removing "normal" (shared) rooms to replace them with more-profitable private rooms is disturbing.
Here, private rooms have become the standard that all new hospitals are built to. Not only are patients generally happier, but they drastically reduct the spread of germs between patients in hospitals. When my kids were born, (they're quite young - <6 years old), my wife had a private room. When my son was hospitalized for a couple of months last fall, he had a private room, with a couch-ish thing that I could sleep on. We didn't pay extra for these, the were the only options at the hospitals we were at. These are not special, private, hospitals in any way, they're just renovated and/or built within the past decade.
It seems like the profit-based healthcare system south of the border is keeping patients in shared rooms, which are nearly a generation out of date here.
- fladrif 9y agoCan you explain your first sentence? What is the discussion surrounding shared vs. private rooms?
- candiodari 9y agoIf it's anything like Europe, doctors and hospitals get to charge extra (not covered by the state medical insurance) if the patient is in a private room. Plus the private room itself costs extra too. It has different names depending on the country. PS. private medical insurance may cover the private room thing. Also, doctors are effectively incentivized to give private room patients preferential treatment. So it is one source of inequality in Europe's health services.
- PhasmaFelis 9y agoMany hospitals house patients in shared rooms with two (or more) beds separated by a sliding curtain. It's cheaper, and is otherwise basically all downside, as jbeales says.
- jbeales 9y agoIn the article there's a whole section about how hospitals are removing non-private, (aka "normal"), rooms, to replace them with more-profitable private rooms that patients pay for out-of-pocket, (and, since they're not insurance companies, can't negotiate better rates).