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.