OMFG! Medical credit scores? No better proof that it's all about money!

[originalpckelly]

"The project, dubbed “MedFICO” in some early press reports, will aid hospitals in assessing a patient’s ability to pay their medical bills. But privacy advocates are worried that the notorious errors that have caused frequent criticism of the credit system will also cause trouble with any attempt to create a health-related risk score. They also fear that a low score might impact the quality of the health care that patients receive.

Fair Issac Corp., developer of the FICO credit score, is one of several investors in Healthcare Analytics, the Massachusetts start-up that is developing the hospital risk tool. Another investor is Tenet Healthcare Corp, one of the nation's largest hospital operators. Stephen Farber, who resigned as chief financial officer of Tenet in 2004, is the CEO of Healthcare Analytics.

Several published reports have described Healthcare Analytics product as a MedFICO score, computed in a way that would be familiar to those who've used credit scores. The firm is gathering payment history information from large hospitals around the country, according to a magazine called Inside ARM, aimed at “accounts receivable management” professionals. It will then analyze that data to predict how likely patients will be to pay future medical bills. As with credit reports and scores, patients who've failed to pay past bills will be deemed less likely to pay future bills."

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/01/the-doctor-wi-1.html#posts

Maybe the healthcare system should be oriented at you know, treating sick people, instead of making money? Oh no, that's a crazy idea, now ain't it?

And I don't even believe that national healthcare is the solution, and this is the best argument against big bureaucracy care, whether corporate bureaucracy or government bureaucracy. The problem is that people aren't the focus of this system, excuse me, the sick people aren't the focus of this system. The rich people are the focus, whether they get better care or make money off of another person's pain and suffering.

The problem is that the people who take care of people don't get to choose to work for free. I bet a lot of doctors would, many already do charity work, so it's not impossible to imagine. These people go through hell because they're devoted to helping people, I'm willing to bet on them. It's very difficult to turn a blind eye to someone who is sitting in your office sick as a dog, it's very easy for a paper pusher in a government run system or a corporate run system off God knows where to make the decision to deny care. They don't have to see the suffering directly.

Of course, I'm not a doctor, so I don't feel very qualified. I'd like to know what the doctors and other medical professionals think of localized universal care.

[NightWatcher]

1. he's bleeding doctor. yea but his his MedFICO is in the toilet. put him outside

we should riot if this is the case

[originalpckelly]

5. It's still in early development, but it really is the last straw.

They don't view people as people but as investments, when they start losing money, it's time to just sell. Unfortunately for the rest of us, that means death.

[Dhalgren]

2. We live in a fucking butcher's yard...

[originalpckelly]

3. This is what happens when we try to put a price on life.

:puke:

These conservatives call them pro-life. Yeah motherfuckers you're pro-life before they're born, afterwards they go Cheney themselves, can't they?

[yy4me]

4. Good grief, is this a case of the lower your score, the more

likely we are to decline to treat you?

I cannot believe we have sunk so low.

[originalpckelly]

6. Why even have it if it isn't the case?

:shrug:

[Pithlet]

14. It's the only reason I can think of.

Unpaid medical bills already screw up your regular Fico. This just makes it easier for them to see whether or not they should bother wasting their time treating you. There are so many other horrible consequences. A lot of people will be priced out of their group health plans when they no longer charge everyone one the same rate, but base it on your MedFico.

[NC_Nurse]

7. Wow. That's repulsive.

I have heard that a lot of rich people don't pay their medical bills because they can get away with it. To me, this is just another
reason for universal single-payer. The govt will get there tax money, they can't be ignored - so these people would have to pay their fair share.
Otherwise it becomes just another way to deny care to people who are not trying to weasel out of their debts, but really can't afford it.
That sucks.

[Wizard777]

8. I pay my own medical expenses out of pockets.

"How are you today?" That question costs me 150.00. It's on the bill as a "medical consultation." It's enough to make you want to go to a doctors house and ask, Can I mow your lawn today? No. Okay that'll be 150.00 for a landscaping consultation. Who else could get away with charging people to ask them if they have any work for them to do? But doctors sure so.

[Ellen Forradalom]

9. I wanna nominate this response for a DUzy

Because it's so perfect.

[NC_Nurse]

10. I know. It seems ridiculous.

Lawyers are the same way.

I don't know your particular case, but I do know that a lot of what doctors do is behind the scenes - like looking at test results and other data
and planning treatments based on that along with the answers to their questions of the patient. I'm sure it seems pretty lame from your end - and
with some doctors it is. You're paying for their expertise, not necessarily every little action they take.

[Wizard777]

12. Actually he's charging me for MY expertise on how I feel today.

everything else is billed seperately. That's all that 150.00 covers. "How do you feel today." That's it, nothing else.

[gateley]

16. When I go to the doctor's office they say

"Do you have your insurance card?"

and I say "No, but I have my credit card. Will that do?'

[Staph]

11. Not a medical professional myself -

But this reminds me of something I read years ago, about the biobeds in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The designer added an indicator with a small label, unreadable on television, that says "Medical Insurance Remaining". Supposedly, when the indicator hits zero, the patient dies.

This is a problem that has been building for a long time - twenty years ago the set designers on a popular television show realized that the quality of one's medical care was dependent on money, not compassion or need.

[Pithlet]

13. Very bad.

It makes me seriously think about Canada. There's just so much wrong with this.

[countryjake]

15. K&R

[TheMightyFavog]

17. Absolutley Disgusting.

End of Line.

[LaurenG]

18. I believe strongly in Universal Health Care but...

I also KNOW that doctors are human beings and most do not advocate any of this.

I know that they have to make money and they deserve compensation for 12 years of hell learning their trade. As it stands now our PCP's are struggling to get their kids through college. There are better and easier ways to make money and most doctors (not including specialists) know this.

Corporations are the problem, they are HEARTLESS and their bottom line is what they focus on, not the care of sick people. It is sickening.

[Vinca]

20. As of December 31, my doctor is out of business.

Why? The insurance companies weren't paying him enough money to cover the cost of running his practice. Additionally, he has been dealing with a medical issue of his own and has mountains of debt not covered by his own health insurer. It's like he was screwed coming and going. Now he's doing per diem work at an ER. Very sad. By the way, if anyone's interested, here's a site that shows the salaries of doctors in Canada. It's not exactly the "Grapes of Wrath."
http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=AR_82_E

[LaurenG]

22. I run a group of PCP's

they have to add more physicians and take bigger cuts just to make it. I don't make enough on my own (my husband has to work too) but they should be making well over twice my salary and they aren't.

Frankly I'm worried.

[annabanana]

19. There it is... laid right out on the table. And yet

NONE of the candidates will "go there" except Kucinich.

[Trailrider1951]

21. This is the sort of crap that makes me want to go POSTAL!!!

As if the regular credit bureaus aren't enough! Do you know that they sell your information to the collection agencies? Do you know that they collude with the banks and credit providers to keep your score LOW so that the credit providers can charge you MORE interest? Explore Experian's website sometime to see how they "help" to make money for their "customers", which, by the way, bubba, AIN'T YOU, the consumer. So, this private information will be used in the same way, to make your score low so you can pay MORE, if the insurance companies take you to begin with, and the hospitals decide to treat you. GOD, WE OUGHT TO BE OUT IN THE STREETS OVER THIS!!! I got my pitchfork ready, how about you?

[laylah]

23. Prior to 2005,

my credit AND medical scores were near excellent. Unfortunately, that has changed. If this practice is put into play, they'll leave me on a street corner somewhere. I am already having problems and I have excellent insurance but no means by which to pay deductibles and co-pays...what's a gal gonna do :shrug: