American Healthcare Must Reward Faster Answers | Opinion
A patient does not wake up hoping for six appointments, three billing departments and a test weeks later. They want an answer.
The American healthcare system prioritizes monetizing the journey rather than providing swift answers to patients. This is evident in the staggering $5.3 trillion spent on healthcare in 2024, with hospital spending at $1.63 trillion and physician services costing another $1.11 trillion. Despite this investment, patients often face lengthy waits for necessary tests, multiple billing departments, and insurance battles, all in pursuit of a proper diagnosis and treatment.
The author's personal experience with their son's incorrect scan further highlights the broken incentive structure, where financial burdens persist even after a mistake. The profit motive in healthcare is evident in the extensive use of operating rooms, highly specialized procedures, and expensive medications, which contribute to high margins for hospitals, insurers, and pharmacy benefit managers.
The system is designed in a way that it profits from sickness rather than health, as a healthy population would reduce admissions and negatively impact bottom line. Consequently, complex diagnoses, which lead to more lucrative reimbursable services, are favored over quick, accurate answers. However, this financial incentive is not aligned with patient well-being and creates a perverse economic inversion.
To improve healthcare, the author suggests rewarding prevention, accurate diagnosis, and efficient patient outcomes. By doing so, payments would become financially consequential for institutions that make errors, thus incentivizing improvement. Transparency across every layer of the healthcare system should also be enforced rapidly and efficiently.
Written by urgent.news from Newsweek's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
