The Surgery Center of Oklahoma's anesthesiologist founders — Steven Lantier, MD, and Keith Smith, MD — believe price transparency is the key to getting healthcare costs under control, according to Yahoo Finance.
Four opinions they shared with Yahoo Finance:
Dr. Steven Lantier on what's fundamentally wrong with healthcare in the U.S.: We both started despising what was going on financially with the patients, 'cause when you look at the bankruptcy statistics — medical bankruptcies for patients now — it's egregious. The average American cannot afford healthcare today, so we believe the system is broken.
Dr. Keith Smith on the "crazy" concept of affordable care: It's the strangest thing — patients prefer to receive high-quality care and not be bankrupted. It sounds radical to say, "Here's what we do and here's how much it is." The mainstream in healthcare is completely unplugged from the actual cost of the care.
Dr. Lantier on payers' role in soaring healthcare costs: We're working in a very corrupt environment where the big hospital systems and the insurance carriers, essentially, work as a cartel attempting to keep prices high and actually not giving any thought to quality, as they actually make more money when mistakes are made.
Dr. Smith on what he believes is hindering care affordability: The reason the system is broken is that anything the government gets their hands on doesn't work. The disaster of the U.S. healthcare system is the handiwork of Uncle Sam.
The Surgery Center of Oklahoma is in Oklahoma City.
Want to share your thoughts on this topic? Contact Angie Stewart: astewart@beckershealthcare.com.