Dr. Joshua John-Ram Schacter argues that current U.S. healthcare is driven by insurance companies who increasingly restrict care by lowering reimbursement per unit. This creates episodic, fragmented care, reduces time clinicians can spend with patients, and fuels physician burnout. He uses a "frog in hot water" metaphor to describe gradual worsening as insurers "ratchet down" approvals and payments.
Reimbursement per unit is constantly decreasing, so insurance companies are constantly ratcheting down. The problem in healthcare today is insurance companies really dictate care. I mean, if you can't get something approved, the idea in the patient's head is that it can't be done. So that's the problem. Episodic care is the norm. We're not looking at patients as a whole. We're not able to spend adequate amounts of time with patients because of our ever accelerating system, and it causes a high level of burnout in physicians and it's poor for patient care. Reimbursement per unit is constantly increasing, so insurance companies are constantly ratcheting down. Ratcheting down, ratcheting down. It's the frog in the hot water principle. They're going to turn that heat up until we're suit.
She Traveled from Colorado for a Different Approach to Knee Pain | Lois’ Story
