Medical costs

I went to college for four years, medical school for four years, and was a surgical resident for five years, learning the art and science of doing surgery. Finally, at age 30, I was able to go to work and make a living.

I joined an older surgeon in Portland and set up my own practice. That was in 1964. My partner was charging $3.75 for an office call. After a few months, I said, “Joe, it seems to me that we could charge more. He thought it over, said that I was right, and the new charge for an office call was $4.25.

Fast forward to the present. I went to see a specialist. He spent about 15 minutes talking to me, did no examination, and charged $334. I went to a different specialist. He talked to me for about 15 minutes, did a limited exam, and charged $530.

I used to do some vascular surgery, along with general surgery, and it would take four to five hours to remove an abdominal aortic aneurism. I probably charged about $1,000. Recently, I had a small skin cancer removed from my face, and the surgeon charged $3,762. I’ve heard about inflation but this seems way more than that!

When I was doing surgery, a patient who had a hernia repair might stay in the hospital four days. A person who had a gall bladder removed, might stay up to seven days, and the same for a hysterectomy. Hospitals are having a rough time, and complain of employees who want more money. Well, hernia repairs are going home the same day, and gallbladder patients go home the next day, or even the same day. This is not always in the best interest of the patient. Older, weak patients may require longer stays.

This is not always the blame of the doctor. It might be the fault of the insurance company. At any rate, it hurts the income of the hospital. It reminds me of life at a cattle ranch where they say, “Get them up, get them out!”

This letter is being written to point out some stark differences in then and now. I wanted to give some credibility to my accusations and observations. After 50 years of doing major surgery, I took my shingle down. The 50 years included doing surgery, for one year, in 1967-68, when I got drafted into the U.S. Army.

Years later, I was sent to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Persian Gulf War (Desert Storm.) Thankfully it was a short war, but unlike other wars, since World War II, we won!

I hope the people who read this don’t think I’m some kind of a braggart. I’m just trying to to record some of my thoughts, having chosen the profession that I practiced, and feeling good about it.