Normally I read related to finance, economics or Autobiographies but this book is totally different. It’s about how hospitals and our healthcare system running behind profit maximization and using unethical practices.
The book Games Hospitals Play by Abantika Ghosh looks to decode your private healthcare experience by exposing a slew of profit maximizing strategies that corporate hospitals exploit at the cost of a helpless citizen. People suspect deceit but lack of the knowledge to decipher the subdivision of hospitals costs to questions or argue. They pay because there is no choice. The book fills this gap admirably by presenting a detailed and accessible analysis of the factors that contribute to high healthcare costs.
This book covers large canvas describing a range of situations – huge mark ups in hospital. Pharmacies that snowball external purchases while charging more than MRP (MRP trap), pressure on doctors to deliver consumables to paid up bills, inflated charges for unnecessary diagnostic tests, procedures and extended ICU stays. And how referrals and package rates actually work. If as he says corporate health care prefers that patient undergoes. An MRI instead of the less expensive and quicker CT scan, regulators need to issue guidelines on rational behind it.
The book also flags another visible trend the bane of medical advertising which entices patients to agree for instance. Bariatric surgery sometimes leading to lethal consequences. She shows how strong over sight and exemplary punishments are not meted out because the clinical Establishment Act,2010, although it exists and applies to corporate hospitals, is inoperable because the rules are in abeyance.
The chief strength of book lies in the way it has demystified opaque processes and shown how information asymmetry enables obfuscation. Accounts of high profile tragedies prove the point but stop there. The long drawn litigation that follows an integral part of the “Games Hospital Play” also deserves attention as billing disputes and negligence cases linger for years, wearing down litigants.
Games Hospitals play opens as essential conversation. It must be read by Health ministers, civil servants, independent directors on corporate hospitals boards and hospital risk management committees. The government too must tighten regulation to protect the public. While the book presents are necessary critique. If reform was its aim it risks shaking trust.
Key Takeways from Book
1. It is important to have good Insurance Cover. Insurance can prevent you from expenses from your pocket as well as Insurance companies doctors keep close eye on your course of treatment. It may help you in your hospital treatment.
2. Its better to avoid hospitals by staying fit and healthy with proper diet and exercise
Blog by Mr.Santosh G Akerkar for educational and knowledge purposes only.
