A few years back, I spoke to the medical staff of St. Louise
Hospital on
”
Medicine is no longer an honorable and caring profession but is
now BIG business
”
. A recent incident confirms my statement.
A patient of mine had a flu-like illness. In the workup to
determine the diagnosis, laboratory blood studies and a chest x-ray
were ordered.
Dear Editor,
A few years back, I spoke to the medical staff of St. Louise Hospital on “Medicine is no longer an honorable and caring profession but is now BIG business”. A recent incident confirms my statement.
A patient of mine had a flu-like illness. In the workup to determine the diagnosis, laboratory blood studies and a chest x-ray were ordered.
The patient later received a bill from the hospital for the lab work and x-rays of $1,906. One item in the bill was $399 for a chest x-ray. That charge caught my eye; I being an “old-timer”. I reminisced …in 1974, a two-view chest x-ray was $7 for the ap view and $2 for the lateral view.
At that date, a debate raged within the medical profession of Santa Clara County – was that second view necessary? The consensus was that a second x-ray view was not economically feasible and should only be based upon clinical evidence of necessity.
In 1974, the average pay for an employee of a main street merchant was $8 an hour. Therefore, the chest x-ray cost the patient about one hour’s worth of labor. In 2008, a chest x-ray with two views cost $399. Today, the average pay is $15 per hour. So, a patient today has to work at least three days to pay for a chest x-ray.
This illustrates two fundamental principles. One – when a third party (insurance or government) pays the bill, the cost is bound to rise. Two – medicine and ancillary services are BIG business; the patient be damned!
What’s the answer? Nothing will change until the fear of God has been re-instilled into the hearts of men. It would be much better if the “love of God”, instead of the “fear of God”, were instilled into the hearts of men. If that occurred, we could all well-afford a chest x-ray. SORRY, I do not see any good prospects of either fear or love in the hearts of men in the near future. Be patient – miracles can, and do, happen!
J.G. McCormack, M.D., Gilroy
