Page 66 - Just Deserts

TotalCare

profitability. If those people could somehow magically vanish,
TotalCare would save somewhere between two and three million a
year. But this other graph—here, this is your copy—shows that
correctly diagnosing and treating them earlier would cost almost as
much because of the expensive testing required. So it would be
almost a wash, financially speaking, to eliminate that third of the
implicit triage.”
The neatly-printed charts fell under Bellarian’s scrutiny. “Hmm.
This does make your point quite graphically. Well, this certainly is an
interesting piece of work, Ms. Collins, even if it didn’t lead directly to
any new policies or procedures.”
“Yes, I know, Chief. You can’t very well make those cases
disappear, like the ones who go home and die without knowing what
hit them, or who come back too late for anything but intravenous
morphine.”
Bellarian looked at her sharply, but the accountant’s eyes were
down, focused on the papers she was putting back in her attaché
case. “Indeed.” His voice was bland. “Thank you for bringing this to
my attention: your initiative is commendable. Keep up the good
work! I’ll let your supervisor know if we want to pursue this line of
inquiry.”
He stood up, signaling an end to the meeting. She nodded and left
the office, showing no emotion.
Whew! thought the Chief. What a cold-hearted bitch! Sees patients
as points above or below a line balancing income and expense—she
must be hard as nails! No love lost on the human race—or at least on
that miserable abandoned mass of it that washes up on these
forsaken shores! She could go far in this organization, maybe far
enough to be a threat. Better keep an eye on her. But let me look
again at those figures. Hmm. The greatest impact on our budget per
case appears to be iatroteratosis; must be one of those tropical
diseases the recent immigrants bring with them. Let me just check the
protocol for that against the PDR...well, that Collins woman doesn’t
know it—shouldn’t know it!—but she just gave me an idea...

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