Link: Atul Gofigure: Why McAllen Should Have Mattered in the Health Reform Debate.
Jeff Goldsmith presents excellent commentary on The Health Care Blog regarding an article published in the New Yorker by Atul Gawande, describing problems with the physician community in McAllen, Texas.
According to Atul's article, McAllen physicians are some of the most expensive in the United States, second only to Miami and actions taken to eliminate this cost variation could reduce Medicare expense by as much as 30% while also improving the quality of care.
Although McAllen is one of the poorest communities in Texas, he reports "lavish physician-owned community hospitals that split their $64 million bottom line with admitting physicians and physician partners." To make matters worse, Atul reports that physician referrals are paid with sex or college tuition for family members. Interesting...
Atul claims this "across-the-board overuse of medicine....is happening across the sunbelt- Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Louisiana, Southern California, etc.- not just in south Texas."
Perhaps mitigating fraudulent health claims is one of the principle opportunities behind meaningful use criteria under the HITECH Act? Mandatory Audits come to mind...
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