4 ms·
If ACOs are similar in spirit to corporate wellness programs, I think they are going to take paternalism and nagging to a level we can not even yet imagine. It
by euroclydon 13y ago
If ACOs are similar in spirit to corporate wellness programs, I think they are going to take paternalism and nagging to a level we can not even yet imagine. It wasn't long ago that we were talking about the patient who was educated about their condition, but now it seems we're to form major financial engagements with organizations whose central premise is that they care more about our health than we do -- scary!!
- bobbydavid 13y agoTo me, the scarier thought is a new conflict between hospitals and pharma. Currently, drug companies market directly to consumers. consumers ask for drugs from doctors, and get prescriptions health care companies have to pay for. Doctors have no reason to deny patients what they want (and the sexy pharma rep keeps encouraging them too). In the new system, the same "entity" writing the prescription is paying for it, as well as "paying" for the cost of not taking it. I imagine doctors will have an incentive to examine the cost/efficacy of a drug, but pharma will hate that. To get around it, pharma will probably launch marketing saying "if your doctor doesn't give you this drug, shes killing you". ACO's fighting drug companies, using the human psyche as the battleground.