For This Health System, Less Is More.

[elleng]

Program That Guarantees Doing Things Right the First Time, for Flat Fee, Pays Off.

'You could think of them as the Maytag repairmen of health care. In an industry that makes its money by selling more -- more tests, more surgeries, more drugs -- Geisinger Health System officials gambled three years ago that they could succeed by doing less, but doing it better.

Mimicking the appliance company that advertised its products' reliability, the health system devised a 90-day warranty on elective heart surgery, promising to get it right the first time, for a flat fee. If complications arise or the patient returns to the hospital, Geisinger bears the additional cost.

The venture has paid off.'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/30/AR2009033003008.html?hpid=artslot&sid=ST2009033103929

[ColesCountyDem]

1. VERY similar to what the UMWA used to do...

My father was a physician in a small coal-mining community in southern Illinois, and the UMWA used to pay a flat, per-capita fee to physicians and hospitals, regardless of the care delivered. Dad always contended that this encouraged responsible physicians to deliver quality care with an emphasis on preventative care.

Some 'old fashioned' ideas may yet have merit, eh?

:)

[newfie11]

2. I wonder if there is a chance they would turn you down?

If your problem is something that statistically comes with problems and would lower their 90 day success rate. In other words do they only pick and choose what they will treat?

[elleng]

3. Sounds like they're the insurance carrier for certain businesses,

and as such, probably don't have discretion to decline service.