The High Cost of Disincentives in the Healthcare System (Swiss Press Audio 2019, by Rahel Walser) - Swiss Press Award
Radio SRF
Rahel Walser
A study looking at several hospital physicians paints a picture of a thoroughly commercialized healthcare system. Instead of focusing on the well-being of patients, doctors are increasingly thinking about their economic performance. The reason: the hospital management sets targets for revenue, or the number of cases seen, and pays out performance-related bonuses. In view of the fixed fees applicable to inpatients and the tariffs set for outpatients, which were partly lowered at the beginning of 2018, the doctors have to come up with something. For example, they call in patients for several appointments, even when all aspects of a treatment could be performed in a single visit. Alternatively, they charge certain services on an outpatient basis thus creating multiple individual charges instead of one all inclusive fee. Or they use disposable rather than reusable instruments, which, in the example of a cataract procedure, raises the overall cost by up to 200 francs. This has caused outrage amongst health insurance unions, who – in a reversal of the intended outcome – have ended up paying a high price for the tariff reductions.
Interview with Rahel Walser
