Health decisions with an eye to the bottom line

Anyone who has been to the doctor is well aware of the cost factors, yet it is what continues to drive what treatments a physician may prescribe and what the patient receives. This story contains a case study related to prostate cancer, whereby 2 treatment plans were compared side by side, and the most expensive plan was considered to be most successful with clinical trials, but yet when it came down to what the panel recommended, the lesser expensive treatment plan was the one of choice, so the question is, does the patient get the best treatment plant available? Doesn’t sound like it as the monetary item of having to cut cost is alive and well, and that’s enough to make anyone angry, especially if it make the difference of having the potential of being a lifesaving treatment. BD

WASHINGTON -- Medical researchers and politicians are tiptoeing into an area of healthcare that makes some Americans uncomfortable, even angry, and it has nothing to do with such hot-button issues as cloning and stem cell research. This time, the controversial idea is to press doctors and patients to use particular drugs and treatments in order to save money. On the surface, it seems simple enough: Billions of dollars could be saved if everyone adopted the regimens that research showed were best and most cost-effective -- which, experts say, happens far less than most patients think.

Health decisions with an eye to the bottom line - Los Angeles Times