Imaging
Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology.
The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend. Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology. The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend.
Medical Image of the Month: Complexity of Healthcare Payment
Figure 1. An illustration taken from an advertisement from a company that claims to simplify healthcare payment.
It is generally agreed that healthcare costs are too high in the US. In ground-breaking work published in 1991, Woolhandler and Himmelstein (1) found that US administrative health care costs increased 37% between 1983 and 1987. They estimated these costs accounted for nearly a quarter of all health care expenditures. Himmelstein now estimates that administrative costs may now account for up to 40% of healthcare costs (2). The cartoon shows one provider and one patient but 8 healthcare administrators. This payment system is overly complex involving multiple steps and personnel, with each administrator “dipping their beaks” adding to healthcare costs.
Alp Umar, MD and Richard A. Robbins, MD
Arizona Chest and Sleep Medicine
Phoenix, AZ USA
References
- Woolhandler S, Himmelstein DU. The deteriorating administrative efficiency of the US health care system. N Engl J Med. 1991;324(18):1253-8. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Robbins RA, Natt B. Medical image of the week: Medical administrative growth. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2018;17(1):35. [CrossRef]
Cite as: Umar A, Robbins RA. Medical image of the month: complexity of healthcare payment. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2020;20(2):59. doi: https://doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc073-19 PDF