Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2021-12-10/column-healthcare-billing-markups
Leaked Scripps Memorial Hospital records reveal huge, automated markups for health care
By David Lazarus
Los Angeles Times
Dec. 10, 2021 8:50 AM PT
Ridiculous, seemingly arbitrary price markups are a defining characteristic of the $4-trillion U.S. healthcare system — and a key reason Americans pay more for treatment than anyone else in the world.
But to see price hikes of as much as 675% being imposed in real time, automatically, by a hospital’s computer system still takes your breath away.
I got to view this for myself after a former operating-room nurse at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas shared with me screenshots of the facility’s electronic health record system.
The nurse asked that I not use her name because she’s now working at a different Southern California medical facility and worries that her job could be endangered.
Her screenshots, taken earlier this year, speak for themselves...
Leaked Scripps Memorial Hospital records reveal huge, automated markups for health care
By David Lazarus
Los Angeles Times
Dec. 10, 2021 8:50 AM PT
Ridiculous, seemingly arbitrary price markups are a defining characteristic of the $4-trillion U.S. healthcare system — and a key reason Americans pay more for treatment than anyone else in the world.
But to see price hikes of as much as 675% being imposed in real time, automatically, by a hospital’s computer system still takes your breath away.
I got to view this for myself after a former operating-room nurse at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas shared with me screenshots of the facility’s electronic health record system.
The nurse asked that I not use her name because she’s now working at a different Southern California medical facility and worries that her job could be endangered.
Her screenshots, taken earlier this year, speak for themselves...