Kennedy Butler
EEE 2083
19 October 2022
Discussion Paper 6: Econ Talk- Keith Smith on Free Market Health Care
Money is difficult. Difficult to have, difficult to talk about, and oftentimes, creates tension in various fields. It is safe to say that it is common knowledge that the Medicaid field is not only a booming one, but one that brings in huge revenue streams, but to what extent? Keith Smith is an anesthesiologist who is passionate about health care and more specifically, being transparent to patients and getting them fair pricing. His Oklahoma based practice was founded on the principles that they weren’t going to skyrocket the prices of operations and procedures like they have witnessed being done so often in the medical field. He told a story on the podcast of one of his first customers and how they asked how much the operation and bill would be. He said they were shocked to find out that their price was only $1,900 when other hospitals wanted $19,000. This is entrepreneurial because Smith saw an opportunity to not only take something he was passionate about, but take a different moral standpoint and create a practice and his own business out of it. Not to mention, becoming extremely successful along the way.
This podcast is interesting to me because first, it was so raw and real. In my own opinion, sometimes when talking about the medical field, you don’t ever seem to get a true and good look at what is going on, that’s even before the lack of information as to where the crazy prices for procedures came from. But Smith, throughout the entire podcast was so open about what was happening behind the scenes and why this injustice seems to take place and then his efforts to end it. Second, it is interesting to me because there does not seem to be many other health care professionals who are passionate about health care system injustices. This shows his humility and great leadership, which makes me think he is a wonderful entrepreneur.
This part makes my heart leap because this aspect of entrepreneurship affects society in the way that it is a type of morally correct and people centered entrepreneurship. Smith isn’t paper chasing or looking for ways to catch more of a financial break, but to provide them with the desired service for a fair and standard price, which is not something society sees a lot. Something he said was that the prices on their website are the prices the customer actually paid, which demonstrates the entrepreneur positively affecting society. When thinking of how society affects this aspect of entrepreneurship, there are two things: the consumer and the industry. While the consumer supports this arrangement of justice for affordable health care, the medical industry seems to be stuck in these ways for lack of better words. So while some support, I am sure there are others that are not happy with Smith’s efforts.
Something Smith said that I loved was this: “We wanted to be not only their medical but financial advocate”. He not only cared about the profession, but genuinely cared and cares for the people and their finances. Talk about a breath of fresh air! My final thought is this: it takes one person, one idea and one passion to completely change the course of the way things “are” to the way things “should be”.
- https://giphy.com/explore/doctors
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(https://giphy.com/explore/doctors)