Healthcare costs have exploded over the last decade and it is truly spiraling out of control. While there have been many plans floated on how to lower the cost of health care, no one has come up with a truly game changing plan yet. There are many ways that you can help lower health care costs. Patients can take better care of themselves, lose weight and take preventive steps. As a healthcare provider, using technology to interact with patients and not always going the most expensive route for diagnosis and treatment can save money. Following are a few ideas on how to bring down the cost of healthcare:
Technology – Using technology to lower healthcare costs can be something that both patients and healthcare providers can benefit from.
* Healthcare Providers – As a provider you can employ technology to communicate with patients. Skype and email can be a good way to consult on cases that are not life threatening, saving money for both patient and the client. Reminding patients of flu shots and other immunizations that are due can easily be done by text or email. When diagnosing, using technology like a GE Ultrasound instead of immediately going to the much more expensive MRI machine can result in lower costs. In many case an ultrasound will be able to provide images that are more than adequate for diagnosis.
* Patients – Most patients can use technology to monitor health and communicate with their doctor. Saving a trip to the office can be a big money saver. Getting texts and email alerts from your provider about immunizations and diet reminders can help you stay healthy. In addition to health reminders technology can help you monitor existing conditions. There are many devices on the market that let patients monitor conditions like blood pressure and help them lose weight while staying in shape which can help prevent a trip down to Ultrasound Service.
Changing Behaviors – Keeping patients healthy is the best way to control costs. This can be done by encouraging a healthy lifestyle and in some cases rewarding healthy behavior with lower insurance costs or even cash back. Educating patients about their health issues and conditions that could affect them in the future can be done use websites and emails. Staying a few steps ahead of diseases like diabetes can prevent patients from developing the disease. Getting patients to exercise and eat better can be difficult but with gentle prodding and rewards like lower insurance rates it is possible to change lifestyles for the better.
Used Equipment – It is not always necessary to have the newest equipment in your office. Using a Used Ultrasound can help lower costs while still providing the same imaging power as a new one. This philosophy can extent to the majority of equipment in a doctors office.
While there is no magic bullet to lower the cost of healthcare, there are many things that both providers and patients can do to help control the every rising cost of staying health.
