The health insurance industry is a source of tremendous dissatisfaction for both patients and healthcare providers. The health insurance industry also represents a huge non-productive expense for the healthcare system. A single-payer system—properly designed—could help to significantly reduce healthcare costs and also improve patient and physician satisfaction.
The trick is to establish automated, evidence-based guidelines. The guidelines should be clear, and allow both healthcare providers and patients to easily understand what is and isn’t covered. Having to deal with insurance companies is an irritant that adds to the bureaucracy of the medical system. This leads to dissatisfaction and contributes to physician burnout and patient frustration.
It should not be difficult to find out what is covered and how much it will cost. Increased transparency will lead to increased competition as well as reduced costs. A talented technology team could design a web-based interface that both patients and healthcare providers could easily use and understand. Lets modernize and simplify the healthcare payment system and eliminate private insurance companies.