3 ms·
"Doctors know that the price of the most effective treatments may not sustain their profession." This is not really a fair assessment. The most cost effective
by dr_ 7y ago
"Doctors know that the price of the most effective treatments may not sustain their profession."
This is not really a fair assessment. The most cost effective treatments can be self administered. But if you are coming in to see me because of persistent knee pain, more often that not you have already tried tylenol and over the counter nsaids (ibuprofen, etc.), and your pain has been persistent. The next set of treatment options, aside from maybe some physical therapy, are more expensive, because they involve using drugs that are more expensive or treatment measures that are more expensive.
With re: PRP, it is not covered by insurance, since the benefits of it over a placebo are still not entirely clear. Many doctors offer it however, and to insure accuracy of needle placement, they usually perform it under ultrasound guidance- not something most people would be able to do on their own, at least not yet. As more and more physicians offer it, and if it remains uncovered, market forces will drive the prices down (like Lasik), although I'm doubtful PRP is considered an effective treatment option in the future.
I don't disagree with the notion that healthcare remains quite expensive in general. I see telemedicine, for certain conditions, reducing costs and maybe Direct Primary Care - bundling care into one package instead of serving it piecemeal could be a good way to go forward.
- godtoldmetodoit 7y agoTelemedicine is pretty cool. I was pretty amazed when I had a pretty nasty rash on my leg, went to my insurance site looking for a nearby doctor, and saw the "talk to a Doctor in 5 minutes option". Filled in some basic info and was talking to a Doctor who prescribed me the appropriate medication all within 30 minutes. Seems likely it will just be a matter of time until little storefronts pop up in strip malls with various user friendly diagnostic equipment to give the remote Doctor more data to treat more conditions (maybe this already exists)?
- JabavuAdams 7y agoRobo-medicine! Every upgrade is a fleet upgrade.
- jl2718 7y agoI was including the price of the ultrasound imaging machine. And I’m not talking about Tylenol either, which is a harmful and oversubscribed drug anyway. Example: I’ve been given a choice: surgery that includes removal of hip cartilage, or nothing. But there are many natural growth factors that have shown excellent cartilage regeneration. PRP wouldn’t be among my first choices, but as an example, it’s better than nothing, better than surgery, and the FDA can’t make my own blood illegal. The two surgeries I did get elsewhere were terrible and didn’t really solve the problem. There are other cheap options for regenerative injections, and they are extremely common among elite and professional athletes. They are also used extensively by large animal vets, and it turns out that there’s nothing I need that a race horse doesn’t, but it’s legal for him and not for me. Diagnostics also, a huge area for free market expansion. The cost of an MRI is dropping below the cost of a copay. And most of all, it’s a question of value added by doctors, which is mostly informational, and as with all information commodities, rapidly dropping to zero. In my vision of the future, I decide what I want, and I pay for it. Simple.
- travisporter 7y agoMaybe see a better doctor. If you’ve self diagnosed and researched a treatment yourself, they should be understanding. However, without high evidence data or guidelines, you could sue them and they woruld have no leg to stand on, so I’m sure there’s a component of defensive medicine.