Pet Peeve No. 1: Doctors who abuse the Healthcare System

Hospitals are the only business that I know of that allow their associates to compete with them...and take away business from them.

Specifically, I am talking about MDs who have a vested interest in imaging and other testing equipment. Consider the following examples, just from conversations in the last few weeks;

I work in a local hospital. We had a patient the other day who had one test in our department at the hospital and a second test (a CT, or computerized tomography scan) at an imaging facility fifteen miles away. Now, we perform CT scans in our hospital and the patient could have easily had the scan done before or after our test. Instead, his doctor insisted that he have the CT at the imaging facility. Why? Because it appears that the MD has a financial interest in the imaging clinic!!

...Then, there's a relative, in another state, who has a progressive form of kidney failure. His specialist stated that he would need to go on dialysis at some point in the future but delayed the treatment until it was absolutely necessary. A second doctor, however, insisted that my relation go on dialysis immediately! Why? The second specialist has a vested interest in the dialysis facility with which he is associated, while the first is NOT associated with a dialysis clinic. Fortunately, my relative took the first opinion and was able to avoid dialysis for a few years with medication and a careful diet.

...then there's my friend, Don. Don has had coronary artery disease for a while. Now, at our hospital, we perform very valuable Radionuclide-Assisted Stress Testing sometimes referred to as a Myoview or Cardiolite Stress Test (after the name of the pharmaceuticals that are used). If the stress test is abnormal, a heart catheterization is ordered. In Don's case, the stress test was abnormal and the subsequent catheterization showed some blockages which were relieved with the insertion of a "stent," a mesh-like device used to expand arteries. Great stuff.
The two tests have certainly extended Don's lifespan and normally the radionuclide stress test is repeated every couple of years. But Don has had SIX subsequent stress tests: that's one every few months at $3000-$4000 a pop. Why?
You guess is as good as mine, but I suspect that the cardiologist performs these tests in his office and not at a hospital! Now, if a dozen of these tests are performed a day, that's over $36,000 of income for the doctors office on just one typical day! Even after overhead and expenses, that's a pretty tidy piece of change!

Then the other day, after hearing a doctor castigate one of our patients for having a test at the hospital and NOT in his office, I just had to get this matter off my chest. Most doctors are conscientious people, but it's just human nature to take advantage of a good situation...like $30,000 a day. It's called a Conflict of Interest!

Some states have blocked doctors from having a vested interest in imaging clinics...but not ours, Ohio, or many other states.

If we seriously want to fix healthcare...this issue MUST be addressed...but I haven't heard a peep.

Mr. Obama, are you listening?

D