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Like moths to a flame, lawyers already get fat off Apple with ludicrous class action suits and frivolous patent trolling etc. because Apple has a mountain of money. If Apple enter the healthcare industry then I predict the flood gates will open for the lawyers...
 
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What people don't realize is there is a move among the big dollar 'managed care' groups to stop using board certified physicians in emergency rooms, and in private practice.

What this means is you will still be paying as much, possibly even more if they get their way, and NOT see a 'real physician'. Imagine being in an accident and waking up in the ER to a 'physicians assistant' looking into your eyes. Someone who basically took a community college course and is not in charge of treating you, with no physicians there at all, AND paying the same cost with the 'management group' skating away with MILLIONS of dollars.

I have a lot of friends that are ER docs, and they are freaking out that these 'management groups' are getting away with this. The future of medical education hangs in the balance if these rapacious groups win and can charge top dollar for what will end up being substandard care.

These groups are so huge, they operate in multiple states, some are nationwide. They have grown up to extort as much money as they can out of the system. Wonder why it's so expensive to go to the ER? It's multi-pronged, but these 'management groups' are a large part of it now. Many hospitals assign contracts to these groups and let them run their ERs, and those groups will bill for *everything*. One doc at a national conference supposedly said that if they could charge for the air you breath in the ER, they would definitely bill patients for it!

I had a PA misdiagnose a heart attack and I spent the night in a CCU unit! Tell me that saved money...

So be aware. The greed in medicine is going to create two separate levels of medical care. We the people will get the PA's and 'super nurses', and the rich will get the 'real doctors', and it's happening in many large cities already. And it's not political, it's wealth, greed, callousness...
 
Like moths to a flame, lawyers already get fat off Apple with ludicrous class action suits and frivolous patent trolling etc. because Apple has a mountain of money. If Apple enter the healthcare industry then I predict the flood gates will open for the lawyers...

Yes, and no. I've heard people talking about immunity, similar to what the police enjoy, for certain types of physicians, and 'other health practitioners'. Seriously... Immunity. Imagine that... Healthcare in America will be awash with bad doctors and botched procedures...
 
It’s a very big, messy industry full of laws, loopholes, greed and oversight (among others). It’s been mismanaged for so long that any degree of honesty or financial reconstruction would cause it to collapse. We’re still capable of doing great things — if the price is right.
Believe me, I know. The company I work for does medical and dental software. It’s amazing the level of dysfunction that I’ve seen on the tech side of healthcare. On the bright side it has been improving over the last year or so.
 
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And they will handle service outages how? Tried making purchases with your Apple Card lately? And at the speed with which they fix bugs? …I don’t think so.
 
I'm not surprised a doctor would get upset if challenged. I've worked with a number of doctors and hospital systems, and most are really cool people who are fun to be around. Every now and then you run into one who thinks because tehy are an MD all of a sudden they are an expert in every field and if questioned get mad. One doctor in a group I worked with said "Our biggest problem is every doctor thinks they know how best to run the hospital."

I don’t think it’s that simple. Many universal healthcare systems actually are not doing that great financially, to the point that many people within that system are looking for healthcare outside. One size cannot fit all.

The challenge is the entire system needs to be changed to really make an impact, from who pays for medical education to patient expectations how treatment is delivered, drug purchasing, tort law etc. Given everyone has some sort of financial stake in the system it's a hard sell.

I don’t know if I want a Health Genius giving me a check up.

Sorry, your spouse is unrepairable and died. Just restore to the new one from the backup.

I work for the largest US large health care/insurance company. We sell insurance, Rx and other services plus we own primary care clinics and ambulatory surgery centers. We’re becoming more and more of a tech company. There’s no way Apple could ever come close to really competing in this space because they just don’t have the data. If Apple did anything it would be niche and for the wealthy/very healthy/tech savvy.

Apple, if they were serious, could no doubt buy a system for the data. My question is why would they take on the liability, especially if they use their tech and made a mistake and now they owned the entire episode?

Like moths to a flame, lawyers already get fat off Apple with ludicrous class action suits and frivolous patent trolling etc. because Apple has a mountain of money. If Apple enter the healthcare industry then I predict the flood gates will open for the lawyers...

Someone who basically took a community college course and is not in charge of treating you

I don't know where you are but in the US a PA requires a post graduate degree that takes 2 -3 years. NOt exactly a community college degree.

I have a lot of friends that are ER docs, and they are freaking out that these 'management groups' are getting away with this. The future of medical education hangs in the balance if these rapacious groups win and can charge top dollar for what will end up being substandard care.

A lot depends on how the care is delivered. I've worked with MDs an NP's and they key, in their eyes, is to know when something is beyond your license and needs to be seen by someone with the right skill sets; which includes a GP sending you to a specialist to find out what is wrong and not just treat the symptoms.

A number of MDs said the NPs the work with are better at what they do than the MDs because they see the same type of patients regularly as opposed to an MD who may see one or two of those a month.

It all comes down to how best to deliver a standard of care. An NP could very well do what a GP does at lower costs, and as for an ER that's a tougher call; but a nurse anesthetist could be part of the team. Could an nurse or NP triage and treat cases in the ER? We do that today already. It's about being treated by someone with the skills needed to deal with what you have.

Part of the problem is people expect to see an MD and if they don't feel like they have not been properly cared for and thus cost is added into the system to placate patients.

Of course, a lot comes down to money. Your scenario aside, a lot of MDs I know say they would not want their kids to be MDs because given the shift in how care is delivered and they'll never get out of debt.
 
Why not dog food this on its own employees first? That would be a good way to gain some experience and iron out any issues. They could easily invalidate all employee insurance plans and put everyone on “AppleCare” plans.
 
How about Apple work with the government to implement universal healthcare, and they can provide a deal that would significantly discount or provide for free an Apple Watch to every American who wants one (or just focus on the aging population and at-risk people as a starting point), so that they can be more aware of their own health and what they can do to improve their health circumstances?

We don’t need yet another private health system, unless Apple can cut out the cost that normally goes to health insurers and the bureaucracy that is in part artificially inflating health care costs. We have enough groups skimming from the system as it is.

Related, I wonder what kind of results that health insurers have had when they’ve provided Apple Watches to customers as a way to discount insurance costs for those that try to maintain a healthier lifestyle? Is it actually helping people be healthier or use the health system less? After all these years, there has to be data Apple could be touting.

My own personal experience is that the Watch and its health tracking has been a big part of my health improvement strategy over the past 18 months. But I’m at an age (mid-50’s) where it’s more important to be mindful of my health. I know with my kids who have Watches, all in their 20’s, don’t track or even think about managing their health on the app, because they’re all healthy and just don’t have the same health worries that I do. I would bet that this is true for a lot of people.
 
I didn’t care about my health in detail until my 50’s. Most Apple customers don’t care about this.
 
Wow, a subscription healthcare, they know how to successfully grow the gap between rich and poor, instead of fighting against it.

Well done Mr. Crook, very welllll done.
If the hell exists, he’ll burn there.
Subscription healthcare is exactly what we have in the USA already - and have done for years.
 
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I didn’t care about my health in detail until my 50’s. Most Apple customers don’t care about this.
I’m in my early thirties and think/care about my health every day, but I’m not going to go and assume everything thinks the way I do, like you. Perhaps Apple’s health focus isn’t just a way to make existing Apple customers happy, but to also attract people of all stripes who care about their health to Apple’s ecosystem. Also, whether people care about their health or not, everyone is thankful for their life being saved by a piece of tech that gives them a critical warning.
 
Apple, if they were serious, could no doubt buy a system for the data. My question is why would they take on the liability, especially if they use their tech and made a mistake and now they owned the entire episode?
I don’t get why Apple would want to be in that business. What would they be providing here other than it’s another ‘service’ they can attach a subscription to? But what exactly would the ‘service’ be? As it is now it’s taking them forever to add providers to electronic medical records in the Health app.
 
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what a great opportunity to partner up with big pharma. be assured that your apple doctor has all your correct health data and prescribes the right „medicine“.
 
Sounds like your buying into the propaganda that you've been fed by private health providers and insurers.

There is a lot of misunderstanding, spin and outright lies about health insurance and single payer, given the money involved. I've seen single payer up close and personal and it has it's good and bad points. Need emergency or urgent care? Not really an issue, go to the emergency room or call the doctor and you get treated, no need to worry about costs. Routine care can be a challenge and requires some planning and you may wait to be seen but in my experience that is only for things that are not serious or are chronic and just require regular followup.

I now live elsewhere and am in an HMO; which is a bit like single payer in that I only pay my copay and everything else is covered with no deductible or uncovered expenses. If I need to go to an ER they cover it at 100% less a small copay, even if it is out of their network so like single payer I won't get hit with a $6000.00 bill. A plus is it is cheaper than many of the traditional plans. The downside is it's hard to get an appointment quickly for routine matters. However, telemedicine has helped as I can talk to an MD/NP/PA and get seen often the same or next day. If the condition warrants it they get me an office visit, such as when the MD was concerned about a problem and found me an appointment the next week instead of 3 months later.

Technology can address some of the challenges of single payer while helping reduce costs; but it requires rethinking how care is delivered.
 
Ohhh a knock-out argument "We've always done it this way!", instead of trying to improve things.
No, it’s a post reminding you what the healthcare system currently is since your post gives the indication that healthcare is somehow magically free in the USA.
 
I didn’t care about my health in detail until my 50’s. Most Apple customers don’t care about this.

Sure, 'live for the moment', however the issues you face in the future are often the things we ignore in our youth.

And I worked for a company that was 'self-insured'. My take was they basically set aside moneys to cover employee healthcare, and it worked out really well, until costs started skyrocketing. Then they brought in a 'management company' to help with the charges and also raised their co-pays. In the beginning, there were no co-pays for prescribed meds, and that changed. Eventually they went to a traditional HMO system and people balked at the cost and level of care, and they now use a 'blue' plan system. People are still not exactly happy, but it's working. They instituted 'health savings accounts' too which drive people nuts, but so be it.
 
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Like moths to a flame, lawyers already get fat off Apple with ludicrous class action suits and frivolous patent trolling etc. because Apple has a mountain of money. If Apple enter the healthcare industry then I predict the flood gates will open for the lawyers...
IF Apple goes ahead with this I predict the 'Sue, sue and sue Apple' brigade of lawyers will have a GDP greater than 100 of the world's sovereign nations. A sad fact of life today. Those who can do, those who can't become lawyers and sue Apple.
 
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Oh, I think GM looked into doing something a lot like this years ago. I can only believe that it didn't work well. There are physicians that are only in it for the money. Now, not so much. Funny that a national group for a specialty had a conference that I was a +1 at, and I overheard a table of physicians bitching that they money just isn't there, and they were discussing options to either get the money flowing again, or what to do next.

Parasites go to where the money is, and first it was insurance companies that sucked all the money from physicians and hospitals, and now it's the 'management groups' that are sucking the big money. The days of the local doctor having the 'big house on the hill' are gone for many types of physicians. Unfortunately 'family practice' has always seemed to be at the bottom.
 
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