Breaking the Cycle of Healthcare Sins: A Call to Action
Healthcare sins are not confined to any specific group. They touch us all, from individuals to providers, corporations, and communities. These actions separate us from the high-value healthcare we deserve.
At the individual level, one of the most significant healthcare sins is our complicity in the waste and over utilization inherent in our current healthcare system. This silent compliance often goes unnoticed, but it’s time for us all to become active disruptors, challenging the norms that drain our financial and time resources. We must actively seek a better healthcare future, not only for ourselves but for our families and communities.
My family experienced a year filled with healthcare encounters. It was expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally draining. The sin wasn’t falling ill; it’s a natural part of life’s journey. The real sin arose when we observed unnecessary tests being performed with minimal pushback from us.
How did we know they were unnecessary? Because identical tests had yielded positive results just 24 hours prior, granting full clearance for surgery. These tests occurred at two different facilities. We watched a family member undergo an EKG, blood draw, and X-rays—procedures that were entirely redundant. We even mentioned that the test results were readily available, but we didn’t push for a phone call. We weren’t disruptors. We were vulnerable and let it slide.
Upon reflection, I realized how much that EKG irritated me, and my silent objections felt shameful. It became evident that the clinic’s motive was to stack billable charges rather than seek a cure.
We later confirmed that the patient had spoken up three times about the previous tests, but it felt like we were uttering gibberish, and we didn’t fight harder because we had already met our insurance deductible and had 100% coverage.
The truth is, when you’re unwell, it’s challenging not to commit healthcare sins. It’s as if you need to send providers an advance directive stating “no tests unless absolutely necessary.”
Being a disruptor is especially hard when illness and recovery place you squarely in the crosshairs. It’s easier to surrender than to consider the community’s impact.
But is this waste victimless? No.
If the faceless insurance giants don’t care about their money, should we? We should.
Paying more for healthcare services leads to higher healthcare insurance costs. Most Americans have private/corporate health plans, whether self-insured, quasi self-insured, or fully insured.
Self-insured plans understand the direct impact of healthcare spending on insurance costs. Employers who actively combat fraud, waste, and poor-quality care demonstrate a commitment to their community.
Hybrid self-insured/stop-loss insurance groups can also make a significant impact, but often employees are unaware of the relationship between health plan costs and their wages.
Then there are fully insured plans, where trust in big-name giants to protect our interests has often been misplaced. These giants, driven by revenue and value-based reimbursement incentives, may not always prioritize community well-being.
Our family’s complicity in higher and unnecessary healthcare costs contributes to burdensome insurance rates. We were complicit in a healthcare sin that didn’t benefit our health, our finances, or our community.
It may not have been the gravest of healthcare sins, but it was a complicit act we must not repeat. We must find reasons to remember the costs to ourselves, our coworkers, friends, and communities. Let’s redeem our health plans and our community—no more #HealthcareSins.
