EconTalk Vivian Lee on The Long Fix
Jun 29, 2020
Vivian Lee, a physician and author of "The Long Fix," discusses transformative changes needed in U.S. healthcare. She critiques the fee-for-service model that incentivizes procedures over actual patient health. The conversation dives into innovations in Medicare and digital health technologies that could reshape treatment incentives. Lee also highlights the complexities of hospital pricing, the necessity for transparency, and how COVID-19 has accelerated potential reforms towards value-based payments, aiming for a healthier, more efficient system.
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The Central Problem
- The current US healthcare system incentivizes doing things to patients, not keeping them healthy.
- This leads to overtreatment, overdiagnosis, and excessive administrative costs.
Missing Feedback Loops
- The healthcare system lacks feedback loops that encourage good performance and cost-consciousness.
- Patients, often insulated from direct costs by third-party payers, don't exert the usual consumer pressures.
Surf and Turf Analogy
- Len Saltz uses the "surf and turf" analogy to describe healthcare costs.
- When everyone splits the bill, individuals are more likely to choose expensive options, driving up overall costs.
