Author Topic: Medical monopolies  (Read 1235 times)

tyler2016

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Medical monopolies
« on: February 20, 2018, 02:46:44 PM »
Has anyone noticed a trend of medical provider monopolies in the US?

 I live in a fairly large metropolitan area, and one common specialty I am seeking seems like it is almost entirely dominated by a single company. Long story short,  I had issues even getting scheduled that left a bad taste in my mouth. This was more than one person, so it wasn't just catching someone on  a bad day.  I ended up going through a different provider, but it is pretty inconvenient.

Someone I know is seeing a specialist whose organization is the only one that I know of within a 90 minute drive.

With these monopoly like situations, there isn't a realistic option to go somewhere else if there is a problem.

mxt0133

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Re: Medical monopolies
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2018, 03:41:16 PM »
It's only going to get worse.  I work for a Lab Information Software company and the industry trend is hospitals all consolidating to form these mega organizations, think Sutter, Kiaser, ect.., and the independent providers are all joining the mega organizations because of efficiencies of scale particularly on the back-office/operations side of the business. 

tyler2016

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Re: Medical monopolies
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2018, 04:16:07 PM »
Ughh. Almost every time I tried to call the place I was put on hold for at least 10 minutes before giving up just to try and make an appointment. Then they were booked up pretty far back, then they cancelled on me a few hours prior to the appointment... It makes me question the service quality I would have received. I wouldn't be surprised if the docs were overworked with shorter than required appointment slots.