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Show LiJ Yes, Hospital Costs Rising, But Much Of It Is New Medical Techniques By TOM BUSSELBERG People are far less inclined to gripe about paying $80 for repair to their automobile au-tomobile than for a medical bill. THAT OBSERVATION came from an area health official who, like other hospital hospi-tal administrators, says the cost of health care may be considered high, but people are making it that way as they seek better health care. Add to that the wishes of doctors, who want to take advantage of the latest in technology, if it can help things, and save their own necks, at the same lime. Malpractice suits, although not really "big business" yet here in Utah, do pose a threat for some. One way to minimize that is to conduct as many tests and take as many other precautions as are reasonable in each case. BUT SUCH actions, all adding to a kind of "Cadillac" care Americans are beginning begin-ning to expect, from TV's in every hospital hospi-tal room to carpeting to private rooms only in some hospitals, make for higher costs. And more importantly, life-supporting instruments such as pacemakers, have to be paid for from somewhere. But are hospital costs rising faster than other services? DAVIS NORTH Medical Center Administrator Ad-ministrator Dean Holman says the hospital hospi-tal industry as a whole has contained cost increases well within national guidelines. But a federal proposal to limit uppages to 9.7 percent a year is unrealistic, he maintains. Such a mandatory move would mean some cuts would have to be made in health services, whether it was the TV's in every room or nurse's call, for instance. in-stance. To make hospitals stand by inflationary increases that are less than the rest of the nation seems unrealistic. Hospital costs have actually risen about 15 percent a year and half of that is for increased care whether it be through added laboratory tests or technological advances, such as more bypass operations, Mr. Holman says. TENDING TO agree with that is William Moore, Lakeview Hospital administrator. ad-ministrator. "Hospital Corporation of America (Lakeview owners and operators) opera-tors) is endorsing voluntary guidelines, but we may have to exceed them." He says the hospital may be looking at a 9.9 percent increase over the year, just above the government guidelines. "We didn't go with the huge wage increase the Intermountain Health Care did last year (of 10 to 20 percent). We had to go with 10. 1 percent increase this year (wage-wise) and probably about 9.9 percent per-cent on supplies, etc.," Mr. Moore says. BUT A lot of cost controls are beyond reach of hospitals. Mr. Holman says the doctors are responsible for from 60 to 90 percent of the patient costs generated, because they control admissions, tests run and the like. In addition, such costs as fuel, minimum wage and supplies are beyond a hospital's control. At Lakeview, a lot has been done to contain costs since it opened several years ago, Mr. Moore says. A cost containment committee headed by Dr. Lloyd R. Hicken of Bountiful meets regularly in an attempt at-tempt to find vays to keep costs down. BUT ITS hard on hospitals as much as anybody to keep a lid on costs in these troubled times. One hospital is being sued because a nurse, after checking an accident ac-cident victim in the emergency room and finding apparently nothing physically wrong, told him to go home and check with his doctor. The man exited and collapsed with a coronary attack. And such moves as voluntary accreditation accredi-tation by Lakeview that used to cost a token $100 now take $2,000 a day out of hospital coffers while a staff evaluates the facility, Mr. Moore says. "UTAH CAN take pride in its hospitals. Costs are lower and length of stay lower than the national average," the Lakeview administrator says. And where hospitals are already working to keep costs down it gets harder to continue making substantial substan-tial improvements compared to somewhere else, where inefficiency may have been the rule. Such a move "is rewarding the inefficient, large, extravagant ex-travagant hospitals. It just bothers me where we've been efficient to be shot down." The issue of costs for anything isn't a happy one. And probably some costs incurred in-curred in Davis County hospitals and-elsewhere and-elsewhere could be curtailed. But it costs to have Cadillac care. (And who doesn't want the best for himself or a loved one when it means life or death or a means to a better life through good medical care)? I'VE SEEN hospitals abroad where the hallways were just filled to overflowing with patients in rundown beds and almost unsanitary conditions. There, hospital patients with broken limbs often exited with mangled limbs due to Inadequate care was virtually free under government auspices. That, in itself, is a whole argument. But if we want the best care possible, we're going to have to pay our share for it. Technology, unfortunately, costs money. But without it we wouldn't have many of the conveniences we take for granted today. Life expectancy wouldn't be so long today, infant mortality so low and recovery from heart attack, strokes or even cancer as great. LET'S NOT let hospitals or physicians run rampant on their costs, but let's give them a chance to do their job. And hopefully in the end, we'll all benefit. Many costs must be absorbed by hospitals hospi-tals that the public isn't usually aware of Take indigent costs. Last week the Davis County Commission was faced with bills from Lakeview and Davis North Medical Center totalling about $15,000. The bills were incurred by patients who couldn't or -wouldn't pay for services. Who pays? ADMINISTRATOR Holman says indigent in-digent costs, high as they are for his hospital, hos-pital, total only between five to ten percent per-cent of his unpaid bills. That means "writing off" thousands of dollars in unpaid un-paid bills each year. A hospital, like it or not, is a business. And any business can't stay solvent for long if it doesn't do something about unpaid bills. Hospitals spend countless hours trying to track down patients and get payments. But unfortunately, un-fortunately, it doesn't always succeed So the patient bill goes up a few dollars for each paying patient to make up the difference. And one-fourth mill of the general taxpayer's dollar in Davis Countv is forked over for Indigent medical costs fault 'SN T 3" 'he hospilal or doctor's |