Retrospective review of the use and costs of routine chest x rays in trauma setting. Journal of Trauma Management & Outcome

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Retrospective review of the use and costs of routine chest x rays in trauma setting. Journal of Trauma Management & Outcome

Respond to this post by Cassidy: I believe that escalating costs of technology in healthcare is a large hindrance to care that is provided. This largely affects people without insurance, but can also affect people with insurance. Costs of healthcare due to the technology is what keeps people who are sick from seeking medical treatment. When someone who is sick goes to the emergency room, depending on their symptoms, there is standard testing to rule out illness and give a diagnosis. One of these tests can be a chest x-ray. In 2013, a single view portable chest x-ray cost $569.92 at one hospital. Adding to that is the radiologist’s fee which moves it up to $594.92 (Ziegler, Feeney, Desai, Sharpio, Marshall, & Twohig, 2013). According to Skinner (2013), it’s not just about the technology but the type of technology. Skinner mentions that the U.S. pays for new technology regardless of economic value. Researchers found that of the new medical technology implemented, only 0.5% evaluated technology that worked as well but with less cost. We are providing costly care that could potentially be reduced in order for more people to be able to afford treatment. Prior to investing in new technology, healthcare facilities should be evaluating the effectiveness and if the technology already in place would provide the same results. Also, not over utilizing technology for a patient and testing them just to test them as this gets costly quickly. Along the same note, I had a teacher in high school whose daughter was diagnosed with cancer while she was in college. At the time the law didn’t mandate that a dependent be covered under their parent’s insurance regardless of enrollment status. Due to how sick she was, she was left with the choice to either keep attending school to maintain her coverage or go with her doctors’ medical advice to quit school and receive therapy, but out of pocket. She chose to stay in school and receive treatment, but passed away a couple months after graduating. Her parent’s fought for “Michelle’s Law” to be enacted which allows coverage to college students who lose health insurance under a necessary leave of absence for up to one year. https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/2851 https://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/2008/11/michelle-s-law-mandates-coverage Skinner, J. S. (2013 September 5). The costly paradox of health-care technology. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/518876/the-costly-paradox-of-health-care-technology/ Ziegler, K., Feeney, J. M., Desai, C., Sharpio, D., Marshall, W. T., & Twohig, M. (2013 May 9). Retrospective review of the use and costs of routine chest x rays in trauma setting. Journal of Trauma Management & Outcome 7(2). doi: 10.1186/1752-2897-7-2