The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-03-17
INCREASING COST Of HEALTH
PART OF EVOLUTION OF LIVING

the service has been rendered the pa
tient has nothing to show for his ex-
perience except possibly the restora-
ton of his health. with or without a
scar, and which he values far less
when he is well than when he Is sick.
It is entirely different than modern
merchandising. An article purchased,
! even though not paid for. has q def
mite value and a be recovered by
the lawful owner. This Is not true in
matters pertaining to health.
Hospital charges per day have
raised from an average of IS a day In
1909 to $3.50 in 1923. However, as a
result of the improved methods Of
diagnosis and treatment the average
stay in the hospital has been de-
creased from 81 to days in 1909 to II
days in 1929. Therefore, the total cost
Of disqualification has actually
dropped from SOS in 1909 to $3.50 in
1929. Hospital bills r nj higher
than hotel bills and yet hotels do not
provide nursing, do not educate in
terms. do no research work. maintain
no diagnostic and therapeutic arpara-
tus and donate no accommodations to
the poor.
The Case Of the Hospital
There are q number Of ways by
which hospital charges could be re-
6uced. First, the size of the training
schools could be cut down so that one
nurse would serve more people. This
would necessarily work a hardship up
on the patient because of decreased
service and would deplete the supply |
Of nurses for the positions of schoo!
nurses, public health nurses. etc. Sec
ond, they could abolish the training
Of interns and as q result young doc
tors would be thrown out on the pub
lie without adequate training. Third,
they could eliminate charity. In the
latter event the taxpayer would have
to pay for the bill.
Let us get down to concrete ex-
amples in vi city. One of local
hospitals has a per diem cost of oper-
alton of $3.77 without considering the
depreciation of the property and in
terest on its indebtedness. The ma
jority of the patients pay less than 81
day for their services and only a
few pay as high as IS a day. Twenty
per cent of the patients are ward pa
paying $3.50 a day. A 12-bed
ward, therefore, when fully occupied,
is operated at a loss Of SIS q day. The
average income Of the hospital when
all beds are filled at the present rate
is $685. per day. The hospital, there
fore. loses 40 cents per day per pa
tient on the average.
"You ask how hospitals can con-
tinue functioning under such circum-
stances? They can only do so by
means of charges for special services,
as operating room fees, X-ray
and laboratory fees, ETC., and as a rule
these are not enough to cover the
deficits. The balance must be covered
by philanthropy. The cost of running
hospital in the past IS years has in
creased 135 per cent, yet the cost Of
staying in the hospital during the past
Is years has increased only 65 per
cent per day.
Medicines Great Philanthropies
Much has been written of the
philanthropy of Henry Ford. His au-
tomobile has undoubtedly been a
blessing to literally millions of people
and yet his financial condition today
would not indicate that only altruistic
ideas permeated his being during
these last Is years. How many of
you ever heard Of Behring, who gave
the world diphtheria antitoxin with no
hope or claim Of reward; or Wasser-
man, who after years of laborious ex-
Fermentation discovered the test for
syphilis; or of Banting and Mac
Cleod, who discovered insulin by
means Of which life of q diabetic has
been increased Is years during the
past Is years; OF OF Murphy and Mi
not. who recently discoyered liver diet
in the treatment Of pernicious anemia
by means Of which patients suffering