Posted On: June 24, 2009, 11:47 am CDT

Posted By: Harry

I recommend an article in the June 1 New Yorker magazine that addresses the high cost of medical care with focus on McAllen, Texas, one of the most expensive towns in the country for medical care that also has below average outcomes. It wasn't always so costly in McAllen-- started skyrocketing in past few years. Among the factors: a new corporate mentality at the town's hospitals and among young doctors who see patients as revenue sources and who have personal financial interest in the clinics and extra services they too often order. Not all towns have this problem-- areas with Lahey clinics in particular have much lower costs and better outcomes in part because doctors are salaried and put the patient's needs above their own or the hospital's own financial gain. So maybe we need more doctors and hospital executives whose financial interests are tied to better outcomes and patients care rather than how many pateints they see in an hour and how much they can bill for extra services.