I don't enjoy doing it, but I have to or I lose money. We never make the pharmaceutical targets. I'm killing myself to be even, but I can't take any more from my patients. Minutes later, Solomon goes to the waiting room of Dr. Pastor's office, where 10 of the 11 Pod physicians sit in a circle to discuss patients. What is quickly apparent is that the majority of the discussion is not about the actual care of the patient, but the cost of the care.
News is received on three fronts.
Next comes a pharmacy specialist from the hospital, who is making pod visits to hand out efficiency scores and talk about ways of doing a better job of keeping costs in line. The results are not good. There is a collective gasp in the room. We just had a lot of sick patients. The Pod discussion is a long way from Solomon's medical training at Tufts Medical School, where he was taught that cost was no concern when it came to treating patients.