Word: hmos
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...long run, it may be that most secular of forces--economics--that pushes doctors to become more sensitive to the spiritual needs of their patients. Increasingly, American medicine is a business, run by large hmos and managed-care groups with a keen eye on the bottom line. Medical businessmen are more likely than are scientifically trained doctors to view prayer and spirituality as low-cost treatments that clients say they want. "The combination of these forces--consumer demand and the economic collapse of medicine--are very powerful influences that are making medicine suddenly open to this direction," observes Andrew Weil...
...cents spent by Aetna specifically. That means that 14.5 cents of every U.S. Healthcare dollar goes to administration and 10.5 cents goes to profit--an interesting contrast with the 2 cents of every Medicare dollar that goes to administrative costs. A study of U.S. Healthcare and 11 other commercial HMOs by the office of the New York public advocate concluded, "The higher percentage spent on administration was contrary to the expectation that the industry's dramatic member growth should produce greater economies of scale...
...DOCTOR CAN ALWAYS SELL TO A DESPERate patient a procedure that offers scant hope and costs a great deal. In the future, though, we must sell not merely hope, but results. Fortunately, not all HMOs are using the patient's money to support administrators as you described. ROLF NESSE, M.D. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho...
...HMOS GENERALLY COMPARE VERY FAVORably in studies of patient outcomes to other patient populations. The true medical horror stories you should be covering are the ones that result under traditional fee-for-service medicine when no one is managing the care. JO FRKOVICH Dana Point, California...
...HMOS HAVE BEEN BOTH GOOD AND BAD for health care in the U.S. We have learned about waste and limited resources, and that more is not always better. But HMOs erode the doctor-patient relationship. Society wants physicians to control costs. It also wants them to be advocates for health. Most doctors want to be on the side of the patient. However, third-party payers (not just HMOs) can be intimidating. Money is powerful. But most doctors do their best for the patient, or at least what seems to be the best. DAVID S. SMITH, M.D. Milwaukee, Wisconsin...