There's a point where the vertical integration of services doesn't scale up with demand - and you get what is happening here, which is effectively kanban, a pul

There's a point where the vertical integration of services doesn't scale up with demand - and you get what is happening here, which is effectively kanban, a pull based model for patient flow. The scale out cost for hospitals are in the order of billions and decades to become available. The US needs significantly more diversionary, urgent care resources - a cut or fracture below a certain threshold does not need to be in the same emergency room as a stab victim or crush victim. Going back further, preventative care absolutely needs to be in place so chronic illnesses do not progress to the point of emergency. The Australian model is simple enough: for medications, for the most common treatments, these are on a pharmaceuticals benefits list. The government guarantees the price is kept low, even if the manufacturer is charging ridiculous amounts. This works, because paying $600 extra a month for someone's pills from taxes saves $1200+ of them not rocking up to hospital on death's door 12 times a year.