Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ski.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!zehntel!hplabs!hpda!fortune!amdcad!amd!dual!ptsfa!politik!ski!jmm From: jmm@ski.UUCP (Joel M. Miller) Newsgroups: net.med Subject: Re: DRG/HMOs and quality of Patient Care (provocative) Message-ID: <147@ski.UUCP> Date: Sat, 15-Dec-84 22:23:22 EST Article-I.D.: ski.147 Posted: Sat Dec 15 22:23:22 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 19-Dec-84 00:29:58 EST References: <> Reply-To: jmm@unix.UUCP (Joel M. Miller) Distribution: net Organization: Smith-Kettlewell Institute, S.F., CA. Lines: 18 In article <> werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) writes: > > In an effort to bring down the high cost of Health care, there has >been a spread of HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) and reimbursement >by DRGs (Diagnostic Related Groups). > > With the new system, reimbursement is fixed. So that if a patient >requires extra care, the doctor (or Hospital) gets no extra money. > Incidentally, the argument for the above arrangement is that it >discourages Useless tests (most of which are useful in many cases but may >be superfluous or done for legal - fear of malpractice suits. My family & I just switched from conventional health insurance to the Take Care HMO, mainly because the HMO is cheaper. It occurred to me that the payment scheme would encourage under-treatment, but malpractice suits (which encourage over-treatment) are still a factor, and I'm betting that the two influences will cancel, resulting in appropriate treatment.