Aug 26, 2019
In this episode, Marty Makary, Johns Hopkins surgeon and NYT bestselling author, discusses his ambitious attempt to fix the broken U.S. healthcare system through educating the public, changing the lexicon, encouraging radical transparency in pricing, and more. We go in detail into the main drivers of inflated health care costs, the money games being played making it hard to understand, and the unfortunate system structure that has resulted in one in five Americans finding themselves in medical debt collections which can ruin the lives of people and families seeking basic medical care. Marty also shares some very practical advice and tips if you find yourself a victim of predatory pricing and stuck with an outrageous medical bill. In the end, despite the current state of the system, Marty discusses the many exciting trends gaining traction in healthcare and why he is very optimistic and hopeful about the future.
We discuss:
- The science of delivering
healthcare, how we need to do better as a system, and why no single
person or entity fully to blame [10:15];
- The stories that prompted Marty
to write his first book (Unaccountable) [19:15];
- The Surgery Checklist
[26:15];
- The problem is with the system
(not any one person or entity) and the misaligned interests of all
the parties involved [28:15];
- Patients crave honesty and
transparency, and the story of Peter’s back surgery gone wrong
[33:00];
- Today’s med students and young
doctors have less tolerance for predatory pricing and healthcare
industry BS [44:30];
- Funny stories about John Cameron
(legendary surgeon at Johns Hopkins) [48:00];
- How doctors are trained to
internalize traumatic experiences which can result in a
misunderstood form of “burnout” [57:40];
- The beat down of med students
with traditional medical education and some exciting innovations to
medical education [1:07:00];
- Exciting trends in healthcare and
an optimistic view of the future [1:11:30];
- The Price We Pay (Marty’s new
book), an attempt to illuminate the blackbox that is the US
healthcare system [1:21:00];
- Why it’s not always in the best
interest of the insurance company to negotiate the best price
[1:28:30];
- Who is actually paying for
medical costs, and Marty’s frustration with the healthcare lexicon
[1:32:00];
- Pros and cons of a single payer
system [1:37:00];
- How to fight outrageous medical
bills and predatory pricing (and make a dent in the wasteful
healthcare spending for the country) [1:49:30];
- Disrupting the healthcare
industry with private healthcare facilities with market demanded
transparency [2:05:45];
- The people hurt the worst by the
current US healthcare system, the sad breast cancer statistic, and
the importance of knowing that medical bills are negotiable
[2:09:30];
- The healthcare industry bubble
[2:14:00];
- Increased costs from unnecessary
tests and procedures [2:16:30];
- Malpractice concerns due to the
litigious culture in America: What influence does it have on
unnecessary testing, healthcare costs, and overall quality of
treatment [2:22:00];
- Drug pricing, price gouging,
middle-men money games, kickbacks, and other drivers of healthcare
costs [2:27:45];
- How can we possibly fix the
healthcare system? [2:34:30];
- Helpful resources [2:46:15];
and
- More.
Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/
Show notes page for this episode:https://peterattiamd.com/martymakary/
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