"Elbow" <tokyoelbowNOSPAM@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message news:<2g0kutF36g54U1@uni-berlin.de>...
> "Ryan Ginstrom" <ginstrom@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:c7cg1s$2athl$1@ID-101276.news.uni-berlin.de...
> > Elbow wrote:
> > > "Ryan Ginstrom" <ginstrom@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:c6v69r$gc5m3$1@ID-101276.news.uni-berlin.de...
> > > My son is in hospital now with gastroenteritus and they are treating
> > > him very very well. Not like UK where they cant wait to chuck you out
> > > as soon as possible.
> >
> > But that is just a factor of cost, isn't it? In the UK the cost is
> > artificially held down, so demand outstrips supply and you end up with
> > shortages (e.g. of hospital beds). In the US cost is plenty incentive to
> > hold down demand, so there are plenty of hospital beds.
> >
> > My wife had our kid in the US. They wanted to discharge her the morning
> > following delivery (she gave birth in the early am). We decided to stay
> > another day in the hospital (still pretty barbaric by Japanese
>  standards) -- 
> > and paid around $1,200, completely out of pocket. I'm sure if we had
>  asked,
> > they would have let us stay a week.
> >
> 
> Ive had 3 kids here and I get pissed off that they insist she stay in for a
> week. Its so obvious they want to make more money.
> But I did hear that before the war Japan had the highest  infant death rate
> in the world but now has the lowest.
> I think they take it a tad too far in being extra careful.

There is definitely an economic component to it... but I think it
reflects more poorly on the American HMO-style system than the
Japanese indemnity system.

Back in the old days of US idemnity insurance, mothers used to stay in
the hospital for 5 days after delivery, and there was no outpatient
surgery.  Now, in the US, they chuck you out of maternity after 48
hours with a big list of "if xxx happens, be sure to call us or come
back."  Similarly, there's lots of surgery done in the US as same-day
outpatient procdures, again with that big list of "if yyy happens, be
sure to call us or come back."  They are clearly playing the
statistics here: most of the time, everything turns out fine, but
occasionally there may be a serious complication that only becomes
apparent hours or days after the procedure.  In contrast, you might
have to stay longer in Japan, but when they discharge you, they are
pretty sure you've recovered.

Of course, staying in the hospital is risky, too: doctors neglect to
wash their hands, nurses make mistakes with medication, etc, etc.  I
suppose that, as a society, at some point you gotta put your chips on
either "red" or "black."