The mish-mash of federal aid and private industry that has heretofore composed our Healthcare system has been a crippling to the economy and populace of the United States for decades now. Most people would agree with that proposition, although there are a multitude of opinions about why this is the case. It seems that no matter where the chips fall millions are unhappy with the result.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act (PPACA), more commonly known as “Obamacare”, or “the President’s healthcare initiative to cover all Americans”, has been met with staunch opposition since its inception, but a series of legal suits regarding the “individual mandate” portion of the law has been dragged through the state courts over recent months. In January, more than half of the United States sued over the federal mandate, claiming it trampled state policies.
The suits have dragged on, through progressively higher courts. In an effort to meet the inevitable head-on, the case has been taken directly to the Supreme Court to determine its constitutionality.
At the heart of the case is one issue: the cost of healthcare. Some say it’s simply priced to high, and for others medical bills can completely wipe out economic status sending middle class families into poverty. Opponents of the law refuse to accept a mandate from Washington telling Americans to join in or pay a penalty fee. Both sides have good arguments, and both are trying to do the same thing: reduce the cost of healthcare.
Smaller medical practices often struggle with the cost of equipment and can stand to reduce the overall cost of doing business by changing things around the office. Even a series of small changes can affect income deeply. By transitioning to a green, paper recycling program to implementing more efficient medical billing software stands to reduce the overall cost of the business end of running a clinic, and are likely to be seen enacted in Obamacare itself.
Many doctors are worried that the way PPACA will affect the economy means doctors paying more to do their job. Some hospital organizations have begun to purchase smaller practices in order to specialize, but this raises costs. Software reform could run parallel to Obamacare, in an effort to cut expensive procedure from the operating costs of larger hospitals and smaller practices.
The goal of Obamacare is to unilaterally reduce the cost of healthcare for all Americans. That means that cutting the cost of procedures but also trimming fat in administrative waste. Given the money-saving potential inherent in this sort of thing, implementation of new policy like effective, efficient software or greener standards may be a part of how Obamacare is implemented. This would slough of a major part of the waste generated in clinics (i.e. excessive paperwork, inefficient billing protocol) that leads to inaccurate invoices, unpaid bills and a number of other encumbrances that ultimately affect the bottom line.
About Thomas Stone
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