CANCELLED SURGERIES COSTING HOSPITALS MILLIONS
From Anesthesiology News:
Between patient no-shows and cancellations on the day of surgery, hospitals are losing millions in revenue each year, researchers have found.......
Astonishing isn't it! I might have even been appalled if I weren't so disgusted.
Nowhere in the article is there any discussion of the possible harm to patients due to missed surgeries. Nowhere is there any discussion of why patients may have cancelled, e.g. cost to the patient in terms of missed work and/or lost wages.
Based on this article it would appear only the health care providers are hurt when a patient cancels a surgery, or just doesn't show up.
For me though, this article just serves to highlight how inadequate our health care system is, and how distorted our value system has become in this country, when lost "opportunity costs" (profit) override the health considerations of individual patients.
But can [should] we really expect anything else from a for-profit, fee-for-service health care model?