socialmedian: Remember When Health Insurance Was a Great Idea?

Hi there. I'm Jason, one of the founders of socialmedian.

socialmedian delivers the news, filtered by your network.

We'd love to have you join in.

You can use facebook connect to sign in.

Add News Flash

User-submitted headlines for this story

Clips

Remember When Health Insurance Was a Great Idea?

Source: History News Network

Aug 17, 2009

Summary

For roughly the first half of the twentieth century and before, out-patient medicine in the United States was delivered mostly in the offices of private generalist physicians [general practitioners] - solo practitioners or members of small groups. They handled most clinical situations, including viral and bacterial infections, suturing of wounds, setting of simple fractures, and a few brave doctors in the countryside even aided in uncomplicated deliveries. Often chest X-rays, electrocardiograms, blood counts and urinalyses were also performed in the offices. Specialist consultations were unusual.

When the need for hospitalization arose, physicians alone, without the intervention of third parties would decide whether, when and in which hospital patients would be hospitalized. The private doctor took care of his patient in hospital, with the assistance of nurses and other staff. All payments were made by the patient directly to the physician and separately to the hospital. Insurance coverage of either in- or out-patient treatments was rare to non-existing. Wel

...Read the full article

Comments (0)

Add Your Comment