February 2012
51 posts
7 tags
Dumb or Evil?
Influence peddling. Pandering. Political spin. Doesn’t get any more obvious than the article here. People from the 43rd congressional district (California) have sent this man, Joe Baca, to represent them. As I’ve written before, declaring this man ignorant lets him off the hook. Knowing that the end result of more government involvement in health care will result in horror...
January 2012
9 posts
6 tags
"Mortgage your home for me," says hospital doctor
“I don’t care where you do the cases I refer to you.” This is what an ear nose and throat partner of mine recently heard from a hospital-employed primary care doc. ”Just come on down to “our” hospital. We need an ENT specialist here. My partner had been honest and open when he told this primary care doctor that children and certain difficult adult patients...
4 tags
Cost Accountability
Does the physician facility owner act differently in his own facility? Do rental cars get the same care and attention as the car that you own? I have found that surgeons with short fuses and hot tempers are tolerated where they are non-owners, whereas their partners in co-owned facilities are not amused by these antics as this behavior makes retention of outstanding personnel difficult. How...
6 tags
For Physician Ownership
Another oldie, from April/11.
What effect does the ownership of medical facilities by physicians have on the quality of health care and on prices? My great uncle was the only physician in a small town in Oklahoma for many years and his home doubled as his living quarters(upstairs) and as the town hospital(downstairs). Eventually he built a hospital away from his residence and I have...
5 tags
Benedict Arnold, M.D.
This blog is reprinted from Dec. 16th, 2011.
Imagine for a moment that you are a fly on the wall listening to the following exchange. Take some deep breaths and try to take in the following conversation that actually happened last week. Before I reveal the conversation I further want you to imagine that you have just had surgery on your shoulder. Your surgery didn’t go well. You developed...
Meet the old blogs, similar to the new blogs
Those of you that are new to this blog can find older blogs at this address. You can find our facility’s website at this address. Here you will find general information on our facility and the prices that all of our “not-for-profit” friends adore us for displaying! We will soon launch our new and exciting interactive Facebook page. Thanks for visiting our free market site.
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5 tags
Oh, Canada!
Last last Friday brought us yet another sad story from Canada. Readers new to this blog should be aware that many Canadians in long waiting lines at home have opted to come all the way to Oklahoma City for the affordable and high quality care available at our facility. Here is the picture: a painful gynecological condition that had left a woman basically house-bound and clinically depressed; a...
2 tags
Garth Brooks, Integris and Texas Hold em
I wasn’t going to write anymore about the Garth Brooks vs. Integris case but today’s Sunday Oklahoman made that impossible, I’m afraid. The attempt to salvage Integris’s brand and image in today’s paper has only made things worse for them. The notion that poor little Integris was somehow victimized by Garth Brooks is ludicrous. The idea that Integris was not able...
6 tags
Another "not making a profit" story
A nurse with whom I am acquainted told me the following story this morning. A relative of hers was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and a course of chemotherapy was advised. She has a high deductible insurance policy (good for her!) but just after the holidays is a little short on cash. After having received the news of her diagnosis and just having received her first round of chemo, she...
Big Box Hospital Rip Off
Every once in a while information meant to stay secret leaks out. Like Integris’s revenue numbers with the Garth Brooks case: $200,000,000. Tidbits like this raise all sorts of questions, many we’ve raised on this blog. Here’s another.
I stumbled across an article in the trade journal, “Outpatient Surgery,” by two lawyers, Sokol and Kaye. It is a general...
