• Health care crisis needs to be resolved Health care crisis needs to be resolved By Bobby C. Baker, MD While markets many of us are observing various political issues, criminal activities, financial and proposed government regulations, the real fact
• Health care crisis needs to be resolved
Health care crisis needs to be resolved
By Bobby C. Baker, MD
While markets many of us are observing various political issues, criminal activities, financial and proposed government regulations, the real fact is that most Americans are clueless about what is really happening behind closed doors in our nation’s hospitals and doctors’ offices. Hawai‘i is no exception to this phenomenon. A long predicted nursing shortage has proven to become reality in many hospitals. Some Hawai‘i hospitals are now employing a large percentage of their nursing work force by hiring “traveling nurses.” These are positions that are filled by nurses from the mainland for approximately 3 months or longer at the time. The desire to vacation in our beautiful state at least affords the opportunity to attract these “travelers.” Other rural and less desirable communities are not so lucky. The question remains, how long will Hawai‘i be able to fill these critical positions on a temporary basis?
On another front, health care consumers are becoming more aware of the critical shortage of doctors in our own community. Although this applies to almost every specialty, it is really being felt locally in the areas of orthopedics and obstetrics. What are the problems that contribute to this shortage? Medical school applications are continuing to decline. Even premedical students are starting to understand that medicine has become a profession with many hardships and obstacles. They are aware of malpractice liability and costs, declining reimbursement for services, increased demand for work hours, increased employee and overhead expenses, and the list goes on and on. The bottom line is that we are sitting in the direct path of a major storm that has been predicted to strike by many experts and yet very little is being done to prepare for or even avoid the crisis.
Some physicians in our community are already refusing to accept certain insurance plans. Many of the area’s dentists have been doing this for years.
Patients often need to search high and low to find a dentist who will accept their insurance. They realized a few years ago that collecting 25 to 504573010f their usual and customary fees was a recipe for failure.
A recent article in the Maui News newspaper “Doctors call for medical malpractice reform” was another example of the sentiment among seasoned physicians who can see what has and is about to happen on their radar screens. Proposing malpractice caps and reform will not completely take care of this problem, but it will be a good start. Physicians from California have confirmed that the medical injury made a difference and they are seeing better physician retention as a result. More prevention is needed as well. Reimbursement for medical care needs some drastic improvement. The lay public sees constant increasing insurance premiums, but does not realize that these premiums are not usually being translated into higher reimbursement to the people who are actually providing the service.
Our community needs to take action. Our elected officials need to realize that this crisis can be avoided by making some tough decisions that will not please everyone. Malpractice caps must be passed.
Physicians and hospitals need to have reimbursement increases that reflect the constantly increasing cost of maintaining quality facilities. If our legislators don’t deal with this problem now, they are going to be cleaning up from the aftermath of the storm that will definitely hit our community. Medical professionals who are “on the inside” know that people are going to die from the lack of available health care providers if something isn’t done right away.
What’s more important during a medical emergency, the knowledge that our state has no malpractice caps or the mere fact that someone will be at the emergency room to see and treat a life threatening condition 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year? Let’s not have to create a new non-profit organization called “Hospitals without Doctors.”
Can’t you see asking your family members and neighbors to take a volunteer shift in the intensive care unit or emergency room at the hospital because most of the health care professionals moved away!
Bobby C. Baker, MD, is past chief of staff, Maui Memorial Medical Center and now president and founder, Pacific Cancer Institute of Maui
