New implant highlights tension between patients, profit | Sacramento Business Journal | 1.10.05
A new medical device called a drug-eluting stent has made the future brighter for heart patients, but darker for the hospitals that implant the devices. …
“The regular metal stents that we use range in cost from about $1,000 to $1,500 each. The drug-eluting stents cost about $2,600 each,” said Nabil Musallam, senior associate director of clinical operation, managed care and contracting for UC Davis Health Systems.
Medicare reimburses hospitals an extra $1,369 when the new stents are used, he said, but that’s per procedure, not per stent.
“So if you only use one stent to fix the problem, the increased number that Medicare pays us makes up the cost,” said Musallam. “The problem, though, is that often you use more than one stent. And if you do so, you are really losing your shirt.”
Medical economics: How much shirt gets lost depends on several other factors as well. …
“I think there is a perfect storm brewing,” he said. “Especially for hospitals that take care of the uninsured and underinsured.”
Imagine that—a technological imperative that is not in step with the economic imperatives at play in healthcare—these wonders never cease…