The High Cost of Healthcare's Financial Mindset

EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Justin Baker for writing today's blog post. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. 

A common problem that I have found in healthcare is that many people in this field have a strong tendency to choose the most inexpensive solution, even when it's at the detriment of productivity or outcomes. Even as solutions like Pulsara continue to demonstrate advancements and progress, we also continue to run into road blocks because of this mindset. When having discussions with hospital leadership members, we hear the same responses continuously: “This is a great product and would be very beneficial, but we don’t have the funding for it.” Or: “The current solution that we are using doesn’t cost us a thing. The two main transferring hospitals pay for it, so why would we want to pay for a product?”

These outlying facilities definitely see the benefit in the product, but ultimately not enough to put in the work to find a way to include it in the budget. There is documented proof that eighty percent of serious medical errors involve miscommunication between caregivers during transition of care. So why as an industry do we continue to choose the cheap way out of things when that means using solutions that contribute to this problem rather than addressing it? 

When we went into the healthcare industry, I think we can mostly all agree that our decisions were made based on caring for patients and giving them the best chance possible for survival. Currently this motive, while still a driving force, is conflicted with trying to find the cheapest way, which too often means just accepting the status quo. I do not believe that the end result of patient care should be dependent on price and profit margins. I know what you're thinking: at the end of the day, a hospital is a business, and they need to make a profit. I get that, but did you know that using modern, efficient communication technologies can actually have a significant return on investment because of the reduction in costly false activations and decreased length of stay?

I don’t know about you, but if I were the patient or if it were one of my family members, I would want the staff to have the best tools possible to provide the necessary care and ensure a good outcome. This includes the ability to communicate all pertinent information from the transferring facility, down to the receiving facility, as well as to all the providers in between, from paramedics, to nurses, to physicians.

Everyone needs to be on the same page to provide the best possible care to every patient, every time. This is especially true when we consider that better communication is effective in preventing senseless medical errors. It is time to shift the paradigm of healthcare from that which is the cheapest and most profitable way for the facility, to that which is best for the patient and ensures the best outcomes for all. At the end of the day, you can not put a price tag on a life. It's about people.