What is cost control in regards to health care?

That's a pretty broad question... I'll give you a few quick examples. Can you be more specific?





Ex 1 - Steering. That is sending patients to the most cost effective providers, i.e. providers who've agreed to accept a lesser fee for their services.





Ex 2 - Reduction of duplicate services. For example, a patient has a chest x-ray done on November 1st, then they see another doctor on November 10th and that doctor also orders a chest x-ray unaware that one was just done 10 days prior.





Ex 3 - Case management programs - This is done by identifying patients with a specific condition (such as epilepsy or congestive heart failure) and sending them educational mailings and making phone calls to ensure they are going to all their health appointments and taking their meds as required.





Ex 4 - Pharmacy services. Steering patients to switch from brand name to generic medications.





I could go on and on and on and on....





What is cost control in regards to health care?
cost control is merely the act of keeping the costs incurred by the facility or Physician at a reasonable level so they can keep the prices


reasonable to consumer/client, while still providing the best possible


service.








If all the insurance plans would ask for the same information and in the same format, the health care providers could save money in personnel , and in processing the data.


If all hospitals would go paperless in order entry, and result reporting, not to mention, rounds notes, nurses report, and the myriad details which surround a hospital stay, disinfecting the room,


keeping a par level of linens and other items, getting a courier with the correct equipment and providing him with proper information, just might keep the client from having to wait too long, and the caregiver for whom the client is to see from being late as well








my hospitals went paperless with few problems. Also we had an imaging system which we could use to send diagnostic quality images from hospitals much smaller then ours to be read at our hospital; thereby eliminating the need to have a doctor on site 24/7 who could read them correctly.





Also are the stupid things , like the diagnosis code required on Medicare forms. If you don't get that, its because a doctor sees a patient and then writes orders on a prognosis. it doesn't become a diagnosis until all the results are back, then the doctor can examine them and arrive at the correct conclusion. Yet most have to specify this code when the order is written.





I, too, could go on all night