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Makes sense that hospitals would do this in the United States. It's a cost problem. Simply put, hospitals do not have the financial resources to fully clean the
by crimsonalucard 7y ago
Makes sense that hospitals would do this in the United States. It's a cost problem. Simply put, hospitals do not have the financial resources to fully clean their tools.
Last year I was in the hospital for 1 day and it cost me $10,000. What a travesty. How can doctors ever properly wash surgical tools with that paltry amount of money? Doctors and hospitals deserve better.
- empath75 7y agoThey have to pay the staff that chases down delinquent patients for fraudulent charges, too, you know.
- HarryHirsch 7y agoIs this irony or not? After all everyone knows that it's the hospitals that send the fraudulent bills. Right now: ER visit, didn't have insurance details on me. Hospital sends full-fare bill. I send insurance details via certified mail because it happened before. Hospital sends full-fare bill. It's always like that. They do this to prey on the elderly and disorganized.
- oh_sigh 7y agoI've wondered how much time and money Americans spend on rectifying billing problems between health care providers and their insurance. I imagine(with only anecdotal evidence) it might be greater than the amount of time and money Americans spend on needlessly complex tax filings.
- joe_the_user 7y agoHospitals are extraordinary profit centers for their owners - vast amounts of money go through them. If they can't clean their surgical instruments, the situation is morally and, uh, literally, criminal. Whoever is ultimately responsible for such situations - managers, not underlings - should be in jail.
- corndoge 7y agoIt is sarcasm
- crimsonalucard 7y agoNah man, I think he picked up on it.
- joe_the_user 7y agoI didn't, I was reading quickly but whatever. I'm on HN as a site where content rather than whether you get the jibe is important.
- rayiner 7y agoThey are not: https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/hospital-operating-margins-dropped-39-over-3-years/532205/ https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/hospital-operating-margi... > A new Navigant study analyzed for-profit and nonprofit provider networks and found that the average operating margin declined by almost 39% over the same time span, from 4.15% in 2015 to 2.56% in 2017. Contrary to your assumption, hospitals are about as profitable as grocery stores. It would be useful to introspect about that a bit, because I imagine many people have similar misconceptions. What was your assumption that hospitals are “extraordinary profit centers” based on? Do you think peoples’ attitudes toward hospitals might change if they knew the real facts? Does the truth change your attitude about who should go to jail?
- Ididntdothis 7y agoBe careful with these numbers. As far as I know they operate more like a lot of non-profits around DC. Big money for insiders and leadership, but no profit at the end of the year.
- rayiner 7y agoFor-profit hospitals have shareholders who should ramp down on such waste, but they don’t appear to have appreciably higher profit margins.
- bcrosby95 7y agoYep. And $25,000 for 1 hour of a surgery room. And $20,000 for 1 hour of a recovery room. Practically poverty levels.
- HarryHirsch 7y agoYou wonder how veterinatians manage. A few years ago, the cat had to go in for dental treatment. Chronic gingivitis, known problem in the feline, removal of teeth is indicated. Several hours of surgery under general anesthesia, two or three people are involved. Bill comes to 700 dollars. How far do 700 dollars get you in the hospital? The handshake with the anesthesiologist is already more expensive!
- rscho 7y agoVeterinarians manage because they are far less specialized than docs for humans. Also, there is less demand for potentially lifesaving but financially ruining treatments.
- bcrosby95 7y agoI wonder the same with dentists too. I had two wisdom teeth removed and it costed just as much as my sister getting a doctor to remove a cotton ball from her ear (while waiting in line). One involved surgery and anesthesia. The other involved a pair of tweezers. Same price.
- natalyarostova 7y agoYou are paying for a bunch of other people who used their ER but didn't pay, while the gov still forces the hospital to treat them.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Ididntdothis 7y agoMost people have no idea how much big houses and sports cars cost either. A while ago my girlfriend paid $30000 facility fee for a 5 hour stay. Plus several $10000 more for surgeon, anesthesiology and others. Who could live on that? Add: Some people here don't seem to understand sarcasm.
- war1025 7y agoYou're getting downvoted to hell, but I heartily approve of your cynicism.
- zaroth 7y agoYou think it’s expensive now? Just think how expensive it would be to “properly” clean all the reusable tools. “In 2010, there were 2.1 million arthroscopic procedures of the knee performed and yet total adverse events from all causes was 1 percent.” That’s all causes, not even 1 percent caused by contamination specifically, and does not tell us anything about how severe the AE was. So yes by all means we should be testing cleaning instructions in real-world conditions and make sure instructions are clear and clearly followed. But articles like this are part of the reason that hospital stay costs $10,000 in the first place.