Employee Benefits Trusted Advisor @ Alera Group | Improving Employers bottom line| Improving Healthcare one Employer at a time
A true story of how our healthcare system is failing. While out of town this week, I've been supporting my wife after her major back surgery. However, this isn't the healthcare story I am sharing. Thats for another day. Earlier today, I was stopped by a gentleman while coming back to my hotel from a morning walk. He was curious about the CPT club I had with me, which I often take on the road. After some pleasantries, he shared with me that he and his wife have racked up a $40,000 hotel bill due to a botched knee replacement. His wife can no longer go up and down the stairs at home. As he shared his frustrations with the surgeon not being who he was promoted to be, I knew exactly what had happened. The surgeon has high marks on the network websites. That can be misleading. The true quality scores are in the CMS data base. The gentleman's wife has great coverage through the State of California and has literally no out-of-pocket costs for PCP and surgery. Instead of going on a tirade about the broken healthcare system and the lack of access and transparency to who are the best in class quality physicians I empathized with the gentleman and shared some of the new transparency solutions he can access right now to get better information and access to high-quality care. This is the short version of another true story where our HC system is failing individuals. Its doesnt have to be this way, everyone deserves access to quality care. #dpc #transparency #qualityhealthcare
