Healthcare Lessons from Dr. Keith Smith

Russ Roberts interviewed Dr Keith Smith who has revolutionary thoughts about healthcare reform. From Medium:

The Surgery Center of Oklahoma provides a wide range of surgical procedures. All their prices are transparent, all-inclusive, and can be viewed online. They take no insurance. Their prices are considerably lower, often by many multiples, than the prices charged by hospitals. Smith claims they have not changed their base prices for 20 years. This is in a world where health care costs have risen relentlessly everywhere else. Patients of the Center seem to be very enthusiastic about their treatment.

You can listen to my conversation with Dr. Smith here:https://www.econtalk.org/keith-smith-on-free-market-health-care/

There were two aspects of the conversation. The first was how the surgery center worked — the incentives it faces, the ability to offer a cash price that enough people can still afford to pay, how the surgeons are monitored for quality, how the surgeons reach out to patients and work with them, how surprises on the operating table are handled and so on. The second thing we talked about was how the rest of the health care system works — the fake prices, the incentives to inflate these fake prices, the bizarre interactions of hospitals and insurance companies, the lack of transparency and so on.

Source: Health Care Lessons from Dr. Keith Smith – Russ Roberts – Medium

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Until the U.S. has a better, more affordable healthcare system, you should take action NOW to stay healthy. What are you waiting for?

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