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So you call up the doctor’s office for an appointment.
You’re ill or injured and in need of help. You likely hurt. And what’s the first thing out of the mouth of the person answering the phone? "What kind of insurance do you have?" "Who do we bill?"
Never mind you’re distraught with pain and worry. Forget about any need for urgency. By golly, you better be prepared to talk money and fill out the requisite forms before you can get in the door to get the help you need. In modern health care, the spreadsheet’s bottom line is given priority status!
And that, in KSL’s view, is one of the most unfortunate failures of America’s current health care system. Yet, we believe it could also be one of the easiest shortcomings to fix.
Yes, the system is in crisis. Costs are spiraling out of control. Prescription drugs are beyond the reach of many who need them. The ranks of the uninsured keep rising. The list goes on.
Solutions for such problems are complex and elusive.
But, when it comes to the most elementary aspect of health care, the doctor-patient relationship, no act of congress is needed. Physicians and their office personnel merely need to re-enthrone basic humanitarian principles like empathy and compassion and understanding.
KSL believes those physicians who’ve strayed from the altruistic roots of their noble profession must somehow return to the concept that the patient, not the bottom line, should be number one!
