Who's Responsible!

Have you seen the series of commercials lately that urge viewers to oppose health care reform? One is delivered by a doctor who criticizes the current rendition and the other is a long, sad narrative of a family who is facing financial ruin because of rising health care costs suggesting whatever comes out of Congress is going to be bad. I did a little research and discovered one of those commercials is sponsored by an anti union lobbying group. The other is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Both groups represent the insurance industry and they're obviously using scare tactics to further their cause. Nevertheless, I got to thinking about health care costs as it relates to me personally and I think one area of responsibility has to fall on our very own doctors. For example here's a list of all doctors I've been told I have to visit by my primary care MD:

Urologist
Radiologist
Nephrologists
Dermatologist
Pulmonary
Gastroenterologist
Orthopedist
Neurologist
Hematologist
Plastic surgeon

Some of these I've ignored. Others I have not and as such a visit usually resulted in one or more expensive tests. Granted I've had some unusual health issues over the past year and in many cases it was a good thing that I went but in at least 4 instances the visit was not necessary. The reason for this is because primary care doctors do not possess the diagnostic skills people once expected from their doctor. So referrals to specialists is a constant on-going thing. The other reason is because people today are so quick to sue that every doctor has to play the game of CYA. So what we're talking about here is better training and tort reform. These are areas that need to be addressed before there's any hope of meaningful reform.