Great example. Ever checkout without an idea of what your hotel bill is going to be?
> The doctor literally has no idea what you pay.
But if it matters to me, then it should matter to my physician. Most of them will come up with a reasonable response if I tell them "doc, I checked at the pharmacist but I couldn't afford those drugs you prescribed, what else can we do?" Most of them empathize with their patients and come up with an alternate treatment plan if one exists.
I don't think it's good enough to say "well gee discounts and providers and algorithms -- math is hard let's surprise you" because somehow they can figure it out at bill-generation time. At the very least, hospitals/physician's offices could produce a "given your insurance + the nature of your chief complaint, this visit will cost $x, these common diagnostics cost $y/z/w."
Great example. Ever checkout without an idea of what your hotel bill is going to be?
> The doctor literally has no idea what you pay.
But if it matters to me, then it should matter to my physician. Most of them will come up with a reasonable response if I tell them "doc, I checked at the pharmacist but I couldn't afford those drugs you prescribed, what else can we do?" Most of them empathize with their patients and come up with an alternate treatment plan if one exists.
I don't think it's good enough to say "well gee discounts and providers and algorithms -- math is hard let's surprise you" because somehow they can figure it out at bill-generation time. At the very least, hospitals/physician's offices could produce a "given your insurance + the nature of your chief complaint, this visit will cost $x, these common diagnostics cost $y/z/w."