Other Cost-Savings Measures

I'm sure all of you can think of at least a handful of ways to lower our national healthcare bill. By themselves, each measure might not amount to much, but added together and multiplied across the country, they could total trillions of dollars in savings.

Here are a few of my ideas for healthcare providers, including hospitals:

--Require all healthcare providers to wear surgical gloves and masks when treating patients -- even in the doctor's office. Obviously, these would need to be changed often. Yes, there are costs associated with gloves and masks, but we could save by cutting the spread of contagious diseases and pathogens;
--Design waiting rooms and waiting times to reduce or eliminate the spread of illnesses;
--Require providers to regularly disinfect all areas and to routinely clean their air filtering systems;
--Require imaging techs to disinfect MRIs, mammography equipment, etc., after each use. To maximize the use of this expensive equipment, many facilities do not take the time to disinfect it, creating one of the major sources of healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs);
--Prohibit providers from billing for "never" events -- infections or injuries caused by their negligence. Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurers are refusing to pay for these; individuals should not have to pay for such mistakes either. If they have to pay for their own mistakes, maybe providers won't make so many;
--Allow hospital patients to use their regular medications from home rather than forcing them to pay the inflated-hospital price. For that matter, limit hospital drug prices to what area pharmacies charge;
--Allow hospital patients to use their own gowns, toothbrushes, disposable cups, etc., rather than having to pay inflated prices for the ones the hospital provides;
--Require providers to give patients the total cost of a procedure upfront along with the cost of alternatives. Then require them to honor that price quote;
--Require providers to submit itemized bills in a timely manner. Currently, some hospitals wait months and even years to bill so patients cannot challenge the items on the bill;
--Reform patent laws so pharmaceutical and medical device companies have an incentive to create innovative treatments without having to spend millions in court to protect their patents;
--Encourage competition once patents expire, but discourage generic companies from filing on new patents. Under the current system, generic companies often file years before a patent expires, hoping to get a healthy settlement from the brand company in exchange for delaying the launch of their copycat product. The resulting litigation, which often goes through several appeals, increases the costs of both the brand and the generic drugs; and
--Eliminate frivolous malpractice and injury suits; limit legitimate awards to a reasonable amount.

Feel free to add your ideas.