|
|
|
|
The Business of Health Care Report
Today, I'll discuss technology advances
that drive up health care costs. Many of you have heard reports recently
about new devices that help clogged arteries remain open after angioplasty, a procedure that
uses a balloon catheter to push aside plaque in arteries. The devices are drug-coated stents,
which are, essentially, tiny scaffolding that keep arteries propped open once plaque has been
squeezed away. According to the manufacturer, the new stents are coated with a medicine that
keeps arteries from re-clogging and are considered one of the most promising advances in heart
care of the past decade. It's predicted that 800,000 Americans
will need angioplasty this year. In a medical study of 1,400 patients worldwide, only 4
percent of those receiving the drug-coated stents experienced re-clogging after nine months,
while 17 percent of patients who were given traditional stents suffered re-clogging,
according to information provided by the Food and Drug Administration. Not surprisingly, the stents are
very expensive. In fact, they carry a $3,000 price tag - about three times the cost
of the last generation of stents. Most private health insurance
companies have indicated that they will cover the higher cost, but Medicare will
only pay a portion of the increase. As a result, hospitals face the prospect of
losing money on stents for older patients who rely on Medicare as their sole source
of health care coverage. When you consider that more than
6 million Americans have cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart
Association, and the majority of them are 65 or older, you can see why hospitals are
excited, yet concerned, about the new technology. This case is just one example of
what hospital administrators face whenever medical breakthroughs lead to welcome, but
expensive, medical equipment. For Texas Health Resources
and its family of hospitals - Harris Methodist Hospitals, Presbyterian
Healthcare System and Arlington Memorial Hospital - I'm CEO
Doug Hawthorne
with "The Business of Health Care Report" on NewsRadio 1080 KRLD.
©
2003 Texas Health Resources |
I'm Doug Hawthorne, President and CEO of Texas Health Resources, with
"The Business of Health Care Report" on 