Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
If you knew your medical consultant could make a profit from the cancer treatment he or she recommended for you, would you still feel confident it was the right treatment for you? For the vast majority of cancer patients in the UK this question never arises. The NHS insulates patients from the conflict of interest that can skew clinical decision-making in for-profit healthcare systems.
In the US there are copious opportunities for clinicians to make money from prescribing drugs, surgery or diagnostic tests which can put patients at risk of harm from unnecessary interventions, while also wasting huge amounts of public money when the treatment is covered by Medicare. In order to combat this, the federal government has put in place tough rules to penaliseany hospital or clinician that engages in fraudulent activity. Despite this, healthcare fraud in the US is now estimated to cost up to a staggering $272bna year.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ncologists-shares-private-hospitals-must-stop
In the US there are copious opportunities for clinicians to make money from prescribing drugs, surgery or diagnostic tests which can put patients at risk of harm from unnecessary interventions, while also wasting huge amounts of public money when the treatment is covered by Medicare. In order to combat this, the federal government has put in place tough rules to penaliseany hospital or clinician that engages in fraudulent activity. Despite this, healthcare fraud in the US is now estimated to cost up to a staggering $272bna year.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ncologists-shares-private-hospitals-must-stop