Hospitalized but 'under observation'? Seniors, beware

[SheilaT]

19. I work the information desk at the only

hospital here in Santa Fe. Which means I observe a lot of stuff, but I'm not a medical person nor an expert on how or why people are charged. I can say this: that with recent changes in payments if people are re-admitted too soon, all of a sudden our "frequent flyers" have dropped precipitously. I am, of course, not at all privy to any medical details, so I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that certain specific people I can think of who were coming into the hospital two or three times a month simply aren't showing up any more.

I'm sure it depends a lot on what, exactly, is going on with those people, but maybe going to the ER several times a month is not the appropriate way to be treating whatever ails them, and that they are getting better treatment now. Somewhere.

One hard truth about medical care in this country (and I'd love to know what comparable figures are in other places) is that some relatively small percentage of people consume a huge percentage of all the medical care. Sometimes, figuring out better ways to treat those people is a win-win situation: less money, better care. What we don't want to be doing is abandoning those who need care, which is what our traditional system here too often does.