What Healthcare Reform has Really Forgotten About

Online, September 11, 2009 (Newswire.com) - As the healthcare debate heats up in Washington, it seems that one very important portion of the healthcare system has been left out. This is the medical/surgical distribution industry. This vital industry indirectly improves patient's lives and is the lifeline for new medical technologies.

"The medical distribution industry is vital to patients and doctors alike" says Michael Einhorn CEO of Dealmed, an independent Medical/Surgical distributor. "Many doctors rely on their distributors for information pertaining to new technologies and procedures". Many experts agree. Yet there has not been much talk on what position they will take if Healthcare Reform is passed.

President Obama is focusing much of the healthcare debate on preventive medicine. Preventive medicine's lifeline is the distribution business. If a manufacturer develops a new product, it is the distributor that represents, sells, and distributes the product to the doctor. There are continuous talks in Washington about reducing costs by restructuring reimbursements and pricing. Yet preventive care is dependent on new products, and new products are dependent on reimbursements. If doctors are not satisfied with reimbursements, they won't be inclined to use these products. If the distributors don't earn enough to sell new products, they won't purchase from the manufacturers, and eventually no new products will be produced.

The medical distribution industry has been relatively silent on this issue, yet there is definite uncertainty and uneasiness. HIDA (Health Industry Distributors Association), which represents the medical distribution industry, recently announced a weekly "Healthcare Reform Dashboard" which is available to all distributors. This dashboard will address the concerns the medical distribution industry is facing.

The national healthcare debate must include every aspect of the current system in place, including medical distributors. Leaving any part out of the healthcare equation can result in reduced care and increased costs. Perhaps we should not run into Healthcare Reform so quickly, especially when many critical issues have still been ignored.