Recently I was talking to the director of community outreach for an Atlanta area hospital that serves a large portion of indigent people. The point was well made: When most of the people using the hospital can't pay for the service, where does the money come from? Just like local governments lifting every rock they can, hoping to find a revenue stream underneath it, hospitals today are forced to do the same thing.
Let's set aside for a moment the argument about who is insured and who is not, and illegal immigration, and the myriad other factors; the windup is hospitals all over the country having to treat people and not get paid for it.
Now, nobody goes to Wal-Mart or Kmart expecting not to pay (shoplifters excluded). Most small business owners I know, as well as large corporations, go on the built in premise that if somebody uses their services, they receive pay for it. But the business model for hospitals is very different. Part of it is because they treat people - not cars, cable TV, or computers. We have to understand that the foundation of healthcare delivery is a uniquely different business than any other in our capitalistic U.S. of A.
In this case, the hospital is trying to broaden its scope of services, educate and engender a healthier workplace population in the community, and at the same time be the place of destination if and when those workers need medical treatment.
Hospitals can no longer be considered bastions of human empathy - caring for the sick, sparing no expense, doing everything it can - while operating under the kind of administrative, bureaucratic and medical liability, the pressure of which would cause most corporations to shutter their doors in 5 minutes. We as consumers have to adjust what we think we deserve or get, with the practical realities of what it costs to deliver such things. It's the same with government - nobody wants to pay taxes, but if my house is on fire, the fire department better damn well be here in a New York minute. This expectation extends to the police, road maintenance, paramedics... the list goes on.
But just think if you ran a business, and half the people using your service didn't pay for it; you'd be scratching your head a bit and doing a lot of scrambling, and perhaps doing the not-most-ethical things in terms of getting the other half to pay for their care, the care for those who don't pay. And oh, by the way, can I have a profit on top of that, please?
One of the big changes currently underway in the hospital system nationwide is the inevitable movement to a paperless system. While many are not happy over this, especially small medical clinics who are spending upwards of $50,000 for this "retrofit," in the end it will make everything a lot more expedient and efficient. And yes, there are some bugs to be worked out of the system... privacy issues, for starters.
One of the hallmarks of the "American way" has been involvement, getting involved, being involved, paying attention, making a difference. People argue with me all the time how much of society is stupid, doesn't want to do their own thinking, act like cattle, and generally just don't care. I think the problem is much more fundamental: It's called overwhelm. I think much of the population today, exacerbated by the 2-year-long economic malaise, find themselves in various states of burnout. Thus, huge issues with multiple origins to factor in (healthcare is a great example), require a bit of breathing space and a bit of random access memory in the human brain, just to organize the information. Like computers that bog down and process slowly when their RAM is maxed out, the same happens for us as humans.
All of this is enhanced by the incipient increase in the amount and speed of change. Other than a couple of basics, like how babies are born and made, and the need to breathe and eat and drink water, much of the rest of what we've come to know as life itself is completely and totally up for grabs. This includes how and where we live, work, socialize and relate to each other... name any major part of life, business, or manufacturing that technology has not totally turned upside down on its ear in the last 5 years.
When I was younger, I used to hear old people talk about "the good old days," 40, 50, 60 years and prior. Now I hear people longing for the good old days of, well, 1995, and what has happened in the ensuing 15 years, and perhaps more importantly, what about the next?
Will Nelson teaches Lifestyle Management For Smart People. He is a Life Performance Specialist: "Think of a mechanic overhauling your car, except I help you tune up your mind and body." He created the Life 101 program called Vitalogy, the study of vital living. Consider it your one-stop shopping for personal training, life coaching, massage therapy and nutritional guidance. Life today means learning how to make everything your own. Vitalogy's courses, done both online and with him personally, are designed to help you do just that. http://www.vitalogy.com
Free 30 minute consultation with Will to talk about your life and what you're looking for. 678-458-0018. will@vitalogy.com. Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
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