When Hospitals Look Like The Ritz (But Cost Even More)

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The Atlantic, Elisabeth Rosenthal (11/17/23): Hospitals Have Gotten Too Nice

This article starts off discussing a recent trend of how medical problems are often described as a “journey.” However, the main focus is the trend of hospitals developing expensive amenities further adding to huge medical bills.

An excerpt:

So much of being seriously ill has been rebranded in American health care as a kind of adventure…But on these journeys, you don’t get to go anywhere—except maybe the hospital or doctor’s office, which is likely, too, to have bought into the travel concept. In the past two decades, American hospitals have gotten into the business of hotel-like hospitality (illness can be fun!) rather than confine themselves to the business of disease (what a downer). And although the care might stay solid, the focus on luxurious amenities and the fancy new buildings that house them is one of the factors that have helped send costs for patients soaring that much higher, to prices well above those in other developed countries…

In recent years, tight budgets, staffing shortages, and burnout have hit American hospitals. At the same time, many health centers in the U.S.—including the most prestigious ones, and even some community hospitals—have morphed into seven-star hotels…A hospital might now boast about its views, high-thread-count sheets, or food provided by a Michelin-starred chef…

Back in 2008, researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that a hospital investing in amenities would increase demand by 38 percent, whereas a similar investment in clinical quality would lead to only a 13 percent increase…

These amenities have a cost, and they are not worth nearly what we’re paying for them as we’re billed for $100,000 joint replacements and $9,000 CT scans. Room charges in many hospitals can exceed $1,000 a night. And “facility fees” for outpatient procedures and even office visits can reach hundreds of dollars, and simply don’t exist elsewhere. A hospital’s function is to diagnose and to heal, at a price that sick people can afford. I dream of a no-frills Target- or Ikea-like hospital for care…

How about focusing on the very basic things that health systems in the U.S. should do, but—in my experience—in many cases do not, like making it easier for patients to schedule appointments? Shortening the now lengthy wait times to see physicians who take insurance plans? Paying for adequate staffing on nights and weekends, so patients don’t linger in bed pointlessly for two days until social workers return on Monday? Or ending those two-day stays in emergency rooms when all inpatient beds are full? 

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