It has long been purported that the United States spends an exorbitant amount on health care when compared to other industrialized nations. In the past, Ashish Jha, a health care professor at Harvard, detailed the reason: the American health care system has an increase in specialty physicians rather than primary care physicians — the norm in Western Europe, for instance. Specialists are generally more expensive as they tend to rely on high-cost services. However, Jha has determined this is not a valid argument. The ECG monitor leader, ReactDx, invites you to read the information Jha uncovered and published in the Journal of American Medical Association.
The comprehensive study co-authored by Jha found that the United States was not extravagant in its patients’ demands to see specialists. In fact, Americans were more or less average in that respect. 43 percent of physicians in the United States are primary care physicians, which aligns with a dozen or so other countries. Other myths were debunked as well, including the idea that Americans tend to visit their doctors more frequently than citizens in other countries; Americans are actually slightly below average in this regard. And the idea that an abundance of procedures are performed more frequently in the United States is also not necessarily valid; while knee replacement surgeries and MRIs are indeed more frequent in America, other procedures scored significantly lower. Of the 10 procedures recorded, the United States scored an even amount above average as below average. Statistic wise, that is, well, average.
Keeping this in mind, what is the driving force behind the United States’ escalated health care spending? The price per procedure, office visits, surgeries, et cetera. Americans pay far more for the same care citizens in other countries receive at a lesser fee.
A proactive approach to health care could lower our high-cost health care. When a patient has control over his or her health, it is more likely that patient will be more successful in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. With portable ECG monitors, our customers are able to easily recognize when they are experiencing any form of dysrhythmia and act immediately. Even better, the results of any anomalies are recorded and easily accessible by physicians to focus specific treatment for each patient. Contact ReactDx today at 800-23-HEART to learn how you can lower patient health costs and readmissions with the use of a heart rate monitor from the industry leaders. Our blog detail all our products so you can choose which portable monitor is the best fit for each of your patients.