Syndicom

There’s been a lot of talk coming out of the health care reform debates around issues of comparative effectiveness assessments for treatments and the high costs associated with particular devices (and therefore health care in general). I was just reminded of this fact yesterday as we received a call from a representative from the hospital where I am about to receive treatment with their ‘estimated cost of care’. Stunned by the quote, I called the clinic where my provider works to get some clarification on a) whether the procedure was covered by our PPO insurance (it is), b) whether we had a 10% co-pay (we do) and c) whether these figures were realistic (while a bit high, they were entirely plausible). We then had a long discussion about where the costs come from and she explained that contrary to my belief, it was not my doctor’s fee, nor the hospital OR fee, nor even the anesthesia fee (the entire process takes less than 1 hour). It was in fact, the cost of the one time procedure.

I remembered something Paul Slosar MD, of the San Francisco Spine Institute and the Spine Care Group told me recently. He said, “when you’re doing surgery for a living and you’re trying to create advancements in the discipline…it’s ultimately up to the surgeons to define the need and give feedback to the companies about what will practically work in surgery and what is unrealistic”. His comment makes me wonder what the costs of medical devices would be if there were more collaborative processes involved with their development as well as the professional education around them. So, dear reader, tell me….

Have you ever wished you could get some extra instruction on how to use a new medical device or procedure?

Did you do some training recently and now you have the perfect case in front of you and wish you could ask someone a question just to clarify the procedure before you set the appointment for the operation?

Have you ever wished you could get the lowdown on the latest devices and procedures that might help your patients but are still in development?

If you answered ‘yes’ or even just a ‘maybe’ to any of these questions, then you might want to check out the latest version of Product Edge, a web based tool which helps both medical device companies and surgical experts to collaboratively create case studies as learning tools and then share them with other surgeons interested in getting up to speed with the latest and greatest treatment options. Product Edge provides a multi-phase approach to product education, ongoing surgeon support and usability, allowing collaborative efforts to deepen over time. Such an approach is particularly effective for improving patient safety and care, not to mention the ongoing development and usability of the technology or device. All this without having to attend a trade show! Not a bad deal in a worsening economy!

I am sure you too are hearing stories like mine from your clients, or even from the insurance companies. While the debates rage over who controls the cost of health care, I urge you, as someone who may be a direct recipient of a device you use to participate as far as you can, in its development and assessment of its feasibility. You, after all, are the people best equipped to make these judgments. Actively seek out new information and cases the device has been used in. Seek out further training and instruction on its uses and also its feasibility in diverse cases.

Your patients thank you, and so do I!

With thanks to Street Fly JZ for the first aid tin!

Kirsten Broadfoot

Tags: case studies, case study, clients, co-create, co-pay, cocreate, collaborate, collaborative learning tools, health care, health care costs, health care insurance, health insurance cost, hmo ppo, innovate, innovation, medical device, medical devices, participate, patient, Paul Slosar, PPO, procedure, product development, product edge, product education, professional education, web tool

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 8:20 am and is filed under Blog.