Post-it notes are apparently recyclable.

[CivicFan]

Whatdayaknow.

While getting bored during a meeting today I turned a pack of Post-it notes around and looked at the back label. it turns out they can be recycled - I had thought that the sticky glue would be a problem.

By the way, it turns out one of our hospitals has 13 software applications for registering a patient. And that's not the hardest part of the patient administration.

 

[tmorris1]

Envelopes are also recyclable.

 

[hisilver]

The word recyclable is recyclable.

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Whatdayaknow.

While getting bored during a meeting today I turned a pack of Post-it notes around and looked at the back label. it turns out they can be recycled - I had thought that the sticky glue would be a problem.

By the way, it turns out one of our hospitals has 13 software applications for registering a patient. And that's not the hardest part of the patient administration.




..




..


You know what I haven't had in a while? Big League Chew.

 

[CivicFan]

The nugget in the original post was the 13 different software applications. A key insight into how fragmented the IT infrastructure is in health care and why it might be contributing to higher costs and lower outcomes.

 

[Schmoe]

You want to hear why health care is JACKED up???? Got the bill for my wifes lumpectomy in the mail yesterday. What do you think it would cost? Not the surgeon or the anethesiologist, just the hospital for about 4 hours of use.


21K. Yeah, 21K. I about freaked out. Then, since I have BCBS federal plan, I read through the what we pay, what you pay, negotiated price, etc. etc. Well, it came down to about 5700 and I owe around 800. What in the #ell??????? How can they put down a bill for 21K and then accept a little over 5K??????? All because I have insurance? That is messed up. Now the kicker....I'll bet you a million bucks that they will show a "loss" on their books because BCBS only paid them 5K instead of the 21K. They get a nice tax deduction on top of all that. I can not, for the life of me, figure this out and why in the world it is this way.



Sorry dudes, I had to vent....

 

[Kestas]

My messages are recycled.

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
You want to hear why health care is JACKED up???? Got the bill for my wifes lumpectomy in the mail yesterday. What do you think it would cost? Not the surgeon or the anethesiologist, just the hospital for about 4 hours of use.


21K. Yeah, 21K. I about freaked out. Then, since I have BCBS federal plan, I read through the what we pay, what you pay, negotiated price, etc. etc. Well, it came down to about 5700 and I owe around 800. What in the #ell??????? How can they put down a bill for 21K and then accept a little over 5K??????? All because I have insurance? That is messed up. Now the kicker....I'll bet you a million bucks that they will show a "loss" on their books because BCBS only paid them 5K instead of the 21K. They get a nice tax deduction on top of all that. I can not, for the life of me, figure this out and why in the world it is this way.



Sorry dudes, I had to vent....


The true cost is probably about $9k. The government payers pay below the cost usually. Among the institutional payers, it's the commercial insurance that pays the highest (they probably would have paid $11k on the $21k bill).

The self pay, or the uninsured, are billed and expected to pay the full price and the ones who can pay will pay about $20k. But 95% of self pay people are unable to pay these bills.

This is a unique industry that everyone agrees is broken. The health reform fixes some of the issues but it doesn't go far enough.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
The nugget in the original post was the 13 different software applications. A key insight into how fragmented the IT infrastructure is in health care and why it might be contributing to higher costs and lower outcomes.


..one that has absolutely no desire to fix itself.


In this state of the information age all coordinating benefits ..wherever they are ..whomever is paying, should be a 100% seamlessly integrated process for getting the revenue from whomever is paying to whomever is billing.

What we have is a bunch of obstacle courses that make benefits hard to collect on, leaving the patient as the fall guy for lack of execution.


Two institutions play kick the can with the patient on the financial end of the equation.

 

[CivicFan]

The way the things are now, whatever there is, is the best possible solution.

The most advanced healthcare IT system in the US is at the VA. The reason is that there is one payer and the hospitals are on a budget. No financial worries as they know how much money they are going to get and they can focus their attention to providing healthcare to their patients.