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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (2905)	11/15/2007 8:59:36 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

Plus, larger volume equals lower cost per unit.. --------------------------------------------------- How so? If one nurse takes care of 40 patients instead of 6, is that what you mean? If hospital rooms are converted to wards, is that what you mean? Medicine as wholesale, rather than retail? More procedures done with the same device that has a fixed cost (an MRI machine for example). Buying more materials in bulk reduces cost and shipping. And yes more productivity from existing staff. In an efficient organization, increased volume should always equal reduced unit cost. Business 101.

To: Ilaine who wrote (2905)	11/15/2007 9:51:34 AM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 42652

<<<Plus, larger volume equals lower cost per unit..>>> In most US supermarkets, all products go through a scanner at the point of purchase. When the buyer is a key club member, the supermarket owner has all kinds of information relating the purchase to the buyer and to his inventory. He can get an instant update relating to P&L without any additional labor. To do that without automation would cost a fortune. When you go to a doctors office or to any hospital, a lot of stuff is still done with pencil and paper (prescriptions, diagnosis, patient records, billing, purchase orders, etc). A lot of mistakes are made. There is redundant information that is painstakingly maintained. There is information that is not being shared with other healthcare providers. This mountain of information is very expensive to maintain. A good 30% of total US health care costs are in this area. A DARPA type of agency in the health care area would be the most efficient way of finding a solution to this problem.