According to a new Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems report, costs at Oregon hospitals reached $7.5 billion last year. This figure translates into about $2,800 per patient, per day. The report’s data show that these costs cannot be attributed to inflation, which climbed by thirteen percent in the Portland area during the period covered by the report. Hospital costs during that same period advanced by forty percent.
So what accounts for the spending increases? The report cites [i]nvestment losses, increases in charity care, and expansion debts a[s] some of the factors driving the increase.” The Oregonian reported that other factors included “increasing costs for supplies, equipment, prescription drugs, and nurses.” Notably absent from the factors are the costs of paying compensation and defending against medical malpractice lawsuits for failures to diagnose, surgical error, or other medical negligence.
Hospitals may contend that capital spending on expensive expansions and equipment is essential to the practice of “defensive medicine,” which is allegedly needed precisely because of medical malpractice lawsuits. But a Washington Post article reported last year that hospital insurer documents revealed that new equipment is often acquired more to heal economic damage to the bottom line than to improve patient health. When hospitals install their own equipment, they can conduct—and charge lucrative fees for—their own tests.
Some health care advocates as well as some economists say that changing pay incentives to reward prevention and discourage unnecessary procedures could help reduce bring hospital costs. The new report appears to provide further support for the belief that there is merit in such an approach, and that restricting patient’s rights when medical negligence causes serious personal injury would be as unnecessary as it would be wrong.
If a failure to diagnose, surgical error, or other medical negligence has caused personal injury to you or loved ones, contact an Oregon medical malpractice lawyer immediately. The Law Office of Dane E. Johnson offers a no-cost, no-obligation case evaluation. Contact Portland personal injury attorney Dane Johnson online, or call us toll free at (800) 714-3204.
Related Web Resources
Bill Graves, Oregon Hospital Costs Hit $7.5 Billion a Year, Oregonian, Jan. 17, 2010.
Shankar Vedantam, Doctors Reap Benefits By Doing Own Tests, Wash. Post, Jul. 31, 2009.
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