Chart 2: US has better access to health tech than world
By Tim Andrews
Americans for Tax Reform,
Article here
US has nearly double CT scanners (left) and MRI machines per person aqs compared to the rest of the world.
More details below.
Americans for Tax Reform,
Article here
US has nearly double CT scanners (left) and MRI machines per person aqs compared to the rest of the world.
More details below.
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One of the One of the arguments against socializing medicine is how, through usurping the price mechanism, it will invariably lead to rationing. Whilst the most common example of this is that of waiting lists, an alternate example worth looking at would be on the amount of high end medical technology availiable, and benchmarking the number of units per capita with other similar counties. If the U.S has significant higher numbers of such machines, then it could indicate that rationing has occured in other nations, leading to a suboptimum outcome. Data is most readily availiable for Computed Tomography (CT) Scanners and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines: As can be seen, the U.S has has almost double the per capita distribution of OECD Scanners as the OECD median (14.8 to 34 per million people). Next let us look at MRI machines, perhaps an even stronger indicater, due to their relative cost and shorter time since invention: Here the difference is even more stark. Not only does the U.S have almost almost 4 times as many MRI machines per capita as the OECD median (26.5 to 7.1 per million), it also has more than any other country. From this data, an argumant can definatly be made that the socialization of medicine may lead to a decrease in the supply of high-end medical technologies.
See full pictures here.
One of the One of the arguments against socializing medicine is how, through usurping the price mechanism, it will invariably lead to rationing. Whilst the most common example of this is that of waiting lists, an alternate example worth looking at would be on the amount of high end medical technology availiable, and benchmarking the number of units per capita with other similar counties. If the U.S has significant higher numbers of such machines, then it could indicate that rationing has occured in other nations, leading to a suboptimum outcome. Data is most readily availiable for Computed Tomography (CT) Scanners and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines: As can be seen, the U.S has has almost double the per capita distribution of OECD Scanners as the OECD median (14.8 to 34 per million people). Next let us look at MRI machines, perhaps an even stronger indicater, due to their relative cost and shorter time since invention: Here the difference is even more stark. Not only does the U.S have almost almost 4 times as many MRI machines per capita as the OECD median (26.5 to 7.1 per million), it also has more than any other country. From this data, an argumant can definatly be made that the socialization of medicine may lead to a decrease in the supply of high-end medical technologies.
See full pictures here.
In many cases, these CT and MRI scans are scams.
But I'm curious. If you didn't want to spend money on a scan, what exactly did you have in mind getting at the clinic for your bellyache? A tickle from the doctor? A pack of roll-aids? Why did you go to the clinic at all? Why didn't you just wait a couple of days?
Great point, if you have a belly ache that you are willing to wait a couple of days to see if it gets better, what is the point of going to the doctor at all?
And if I really mistrusted my physician's motives that much, I would find another doctor.
I bet you would. But I'm still here, ain't I, despite not having a CT scan?
Look, I KNEW I didn't have diverticulitis because I know the symptoms of diverticulitis and I didn't have any of them. (If I had I would have INSISTED on a CT scan, believe me.) The only symptom was lower abdominal pain, which can be caused by a great many things. I was more worried about a possible kidney or bladder problem; the urinalysis and other tests ruled that out.
People get a lot of aches and pains, few of which are serious, almost all of which go away on their own and for many of which the cause can't be identified. Part of the reason our health care costs are so high is that we've become a nation of hypochondriacs, running in for a CT scan for every bellyache and an MRI for every backache. And too many members of the medical profession encourage this. For one thing, as somebody said, it can be protection against malpractice suits. For another, it can be a substitute for spending enough time with a patient to make an accurate diagnosis. And finally, IT MAKES A TON OF MONEY for the clinics that do the tests and the doctors who own the clinics.
For a picture of how this scam works, I recommend you check out an excellent New Yorker story that appeared several weeks ago: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?yrail
By the way: did you ever find out what caused this severe pain? I would want to.
As for life expectancy: you ask why America lags. I have my suspicions why, but I've never seen any serious analysis of it. Kind of astounding, when you think about it.
Another thing: if you want someone who will spend a lot of time with you, might think about seeing a naturopath.
No, and if it doesn't recur I won't worry about it. It was gone within 24 hours. I had just gotten back from a vacation in Hawaii; maybe I ate a bad papaya or something.
Do you go and get a full diagnostic workup, including CT scans and MRIs, every time you have a pain? You're a physician's dream.
Here's my suspicion: a serious analysis would bring too many politically incorrect things to view. Krauthammer this morning points out that Asian women in America have a life expectancy of 87, while black men are at 69. The longest-lived whites are in low-income northern Plains states. You'd probably find that a lot of it has to do with murder, drugs, and especially obesity. Probably lack of exercise too. Many of the same things that go into poor American educational performance -- things that nobody, including the committed left and right, wants to talk about.
But it's telling that the only mention of race is this: "Race may also be a factor."
When everyone with a brain knows it's a major factor, perhaps the main factor. (See what Krauthammer says about Asian women and black men.)
You can trot out all the bromides about liberals "reducing poverty". The bit about not knowing what conservatives want is a mite disingenuous. (I'd say that conservatives want to reduce poverty through a strong market economy, and liberals are constantly producing poverty through the undermining of the economy and most especially through the undermining of personal responsibility. Hint: the NY Times article mentions both AIDS and homicide, as I recall.)
But again: it's largely about race and also lower class behavior. I have no idea how to get the black illegitimacy rate back down now that our welfare programs have gotten it up to 70%. I have no idea how to keep the country from being overrun with impoverished Mexican peasants. I have no idea how to get the obese white hogs in Oregon to stop gorging themselves.
I doubt, however, that it has much to do with the medical system.
You say:
"I look north and across the pond and see nations with 1/10th our crime rate and prison populations, longer life spans, better health at 1/2 the cost, and so forth."
But you don't have to look to Canada or Europe. (If you look to Europe, be sure to exclude the Balkans, Russia, northern Ireland. And make sure you start history after 1945.) But Just look at the Dakotas.
For a low murder rate, just come to Oregon.
Interestingly, despite all the concern about obesity in America, our death rate from heart disease has been steadily going DOWN for about the last 20 years. I'd guess it has a lot to do with the decline in cigarette smoking and probably, to a lesser extent, to the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Is there any evidence that people in France or Germany or Italy or any of those other countries are not getting needed CT scans and MRIs because they don't have enough machines? No, there is not. All this data shows is that the US has a ridiculously, unnecessarily high number of these scanners -- and the reason we have so many is that they are PROFITABLE.
Meanwhile, because he's reimbursed on a per-patient basis, your physician spends an average of 12 minutes with you in an office visit -- a completely inadequate amount of time to make an accurate diagnosis. What you get instead is a guess, a bottle of pills to treat the symptom and instructions to come back in a couple of weeks if the symptom doesn't get better. If physicians were able to spend enough time with patients to listen to them,adequately examine them and make accurate diagnoses, it would save more lives than all this high-tech junk.
I was going to leave it at that until I put 2 and 2 together. You listed a series of symptoms that you felt were negative. I assume your attending asked you about those.
Later I realized that those are what are called silent symptoms. That is symptoms that are often recognized only after the diagnosis. I wonder if your attending hadn't wanted to rule out an unlikely but dangerous possibility.
That disease is colon cancer for which CT scan would be a preferred diagnostic. If you have had one of those unnecessary Colonoscopies then you shouldn’t have much to worry about.
In any case best of luck on your decision.