Recently, JPMorgan, Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon announced a joint venture in healthcare. Healthcare, as we know, is something few people can agree on when it comes to best practices, but everyone agrees is a broken construct. As we also know, JPM, Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon are among the most influential companies in the world: JP Morgan is the largest bank in the US, Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest public companies in the world, and Amazon is Amazon. And though nitty-gritty details are yet unknown, through statements released by Amazon's Jeff Bezos and B-H's Warren Buffet, one can assume several top-tier goals for this venture:
There are an estimated 141 million visits to the emergency rooms in America each year. And while none of us ever want to see the inside of an ER, it's not unlikely. A trip to the ER means you're in pain, and it's going to cost a few pennies. What happens in an emergency room visit? What does a trip to the emergency room cost? Should I go to an Urgent Care center instead of the ER? First, let's be clear about one thing: if you have a life-threatening condition - heart attack, severe burn, you ate a Tide pod - get yourself to the emergency room, STAT. Non-urgent conditions tend to fall under the flu/cough/animal bite/scrapes categories, and you may consider some less urgent (and less expensive) alternatives. Now that we have that out of the way, if you find yourself in need of a visit to the ER, here are a few tips on what to expect.
There's a new(ish) way to get your health care. It's called telemedicine - but what is it? What is telemedicine? It's a simple concept: talking to a doctor on the phone. At Hippo Health, we call it a 'new-old' concept. New because it still seems to be in an early adoption phase in its V2 iteration, and old because your grandparents likely used telemedicine regularly. It hearkens back to a time when health care was simpler, easier, and personal. When you needed care, you called your doctor. Your doctor would then, if necessary, drive out to your house and, well, care for you. Since then our system has become layered - overburdened clinics, insurance plans, co-pays, deductibles, Urgent Care vs ER visits, endless new regulation and legislation - and countless nuanced, behind-the-scenes changes that our beleaguered health care system struggles to keep up with.
