Originally Posted by
homonculus
Gentlemen, before you lock horns, please read the posts
The claim was that 25% of all PROCEDURES and STAYS were not due to medical need. I accept many investigations and components could be eliminated for no loss, but suggesting that 1 in 4 patients admitted to a US hospital has nothing wrong with them and that 25% of operations are not necessary is I repeat rubbish
I read them. I agree with them. There is a growing opinion that 25% unneeded might be on the low end of the scale. My wife recently suffered from sciatia, which I diagnosed at home with a few simple questions, checked the temp and lividity of both legs. We went to the family doctor, and he called for a CAT scan, blood workup(done in the past 6 mo), and possibly some invasive spine procedure. I told him to calm the **** down, and lets just do the sciatica protocol first. She got an anti-inflammatory, 6 weeks of PT, and no lifting(she's a senior care asst, and has to help lift patients all the time). Sciatica pretty much gone, she's back to no pain and we're careful now about straining back and twisting. If we had gone through all the checks the MD advised, it would have been 4X what we finally took care of. We're not alone. If the insurer is paying, they'll call for everything in the book, and it's a fat book at that.