3 ms·

I wonder what healthcare bills would look like if they were itemized so that things like Ibuprofen were literally billed at cost ($0.25 per?) and there were lin

by lolsal 8y ago

I wonder what healthcare bills would look like if they were itemized so that things like Ibuprofen were literally billed at cost ($0.25 per?) and there were line items for services/labor that captured the real cost of being a medical professional: - Emergency room wait: $0.10 for lights - OTC eyedrops (4 drops): $0.20 - Triage by on-duty nurse: $100 (@ $300/hr) - Consult by on-duty physician: $220 (@ $600/hr) - Late-night convenience fee: $100 (between 7pm and 7am) etc. I made up all the numbers, I have no idea how healthcare professionals calculate their hourly rate.

pessimizer 8y ago
It would look like they should pay their nurses a lot more, according to this bill.
newyankee 8y ago
Isn't there something like generally accepted accounting principles in healthcare ? Genuine question if anyone knows the answer.
- wyldfire 8y ago
  IIUC, much of healthcare billing in the US is governed by discrete codes for services performed. I suspect this allows big customers like Federal Gov't & insurers to audit bills easier. In order to either be more specific about the bills or allow less wiggle room, they made these codes remarkably more specific recently (ICD-10 [1]). IMO the descriptions of the items in these codes are humorously specific. Imagine if your auto mechanic got $650/hr for labor, I suppose you would get much more specific invoices for their work too. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD-10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD-10
  - newyankee 8y ago
    Interesting. Well the thing is if people really are motivated enough they will always find a way to skirt certain types of regulations.
gnopgnip 8y ago
Many ER bills are broken down similar to that now. I was in the ER earlier this year for about 12 hours and there were 30 different line items. The big ones were "part trauma tm response activat" for $26k, "critical care 30-74 min with mo" $5.5k, and a couple related to ct scans. I was only billed $5.92 for ibuprofen 600mg.

by lolsal 8y ago

pessimizer 8y ago

It would look like they should pay their nurses a lot more, according to this bill.

newyankee 8y ago

Isn't there something like generally accepted accounting principles in healthcare ? Genuine question if anyone knows the answer.

wyldfire 8y ago
IIUC, much of healthcare billing in the US is governed by discrete codes for services performed. I suspect this allows big customers like Federal Gov't & insurers to audit bills easier. In order to either be more specific about the bills or allow less wiggle room, they made these codes remarkably more specific recently (ICD-10 [1]). IMO the descriptions of the items in these codes are humorously specific. Imagine if your auto mechanic got $650/hr for labor, I suppose you would get much more specific invoices for their work too. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD-10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD-10
- newyankee 8y ago
  Interesting. Well the thing is if people really are motivated enough they will always find a way to skirt certain types of regulations.

gnopgnip 8y ago

Many ER bills are broken down similar to that now. I was in the ER earlier this year for about 12 hours and there were 30 different line items. The big ones were "part trauma tm response activat" for $26k, "critical care 30-74 min with mo" $5.5k, and a couple related to ct scans. I was only billed $5.92 for ibuprofen 600mg.