When a hospital purchases or leases an expensive piece of equipment, it costs lots of money to have it and have trained technicians to operate it. Certainly some of these machines, like an MRI can work miracles in diagnostics and treatment choices. So, of course, any patient would want the machine to be available when applicable.
But the hospital sees it as a cost/profit center. They are going to use it and create billable time whenever they can. This of course creates lots of unnecessary expense. And the problem is the insurance companies have just laid down and paid the bills. For them it doesn't matter, they just pass the cost on to the consumer. Except now we are at a breaking point.
My neighbor died recently. He had a heart attack getting out of his car at the grocery store. He was 74 years old and hadn't seen a doctor in years, even though he was covered by VA. He was helicoptered to a cardiac hospital over 50 miles away where they performed a four-way bypass, then the next day another follow-up surgery due to infection problems. Next day another surgery due to circulation problems in his leg where the donor artery came from.
Next day he died from kidney failure. I'm amazed they didn't put him on dialysis so they could make some money with that machine. I estimate the VA will have to cough up a mid-six figure sum that accomplished nothing but to make the last few days of this man's life a painful hell.
How I wish he had had his heart attack at home where he lived alone and died peacefully in his own bed.
Welcome to the world of modern medicine.
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