What About Local Care?

US Healthcare is the only commodity where the ability to pay at the time of service is met with the highest charge billable by the provider. Hospitals discriminate against those who can pay in favor of those who don’t pay, or health insurers who obtain discounts up to 70% and delay payment for 30-days or longer. It’s a predatory system; one of the reasons for the current efforts to reform US Healthcare.

All too often a patient settles for convenience and a trip to the local orthopedic surgeon who averages 20 knee replacements a year, or 20 hip replacements a year. In those cases, complications such as infection, improper installation, or post surgery problems tend to be greater. The patient is almost always asking for trouble, but is unaware and uneducated. A recent study of 9,000 Hip Resurfacings in Australia, utilizing clinical data from the Joint Registry, reported that there were 66% more complications in hospitals where less than 100 procedures were done annually. Not every orthopedic doctor is a good surgeon and not every hospital is a good place for joint replacement surgery.