Main Idea and Supporting Points
Atul Gawande’s article “The Cost Conundrum” examines the problem of rising healthcare expenses in the US. The article answers why healthcare costs vary so greatly between locations and organizations, and the author finds the answer in models and leaders. The high healthcare costs in some regions, such as McAllen, Texas, are due to a fee-for-service system that incentivizes doctors to perform more procedures. Sometimes, they are unnecessary, but their goal is increasing revenue.
However, there is also a different model, such as the one used by Mayo Clinic. It focuses on providing high-quality, coordinated care to patients, which could lead to better patient outcomes and lower costs. In Mayo, the leaders realized that to achieve this, the key is to remove financial barriers (Gawande). To prevent physicians from treating patients to raise their revenue, this may be accomplished by pooling all of the funds collected by the hospital system and the doctors and giving everyone a wage for their work. Promoting leaders who put patients’ needs first and how to make it financially feasible is another crucial step.
Rhetorical Tools
One noteworthy rhetorical choice in “The Cost Conundrum” is using patterns. For example, to find a step-by-step answer to how to reduce health care costs, he compares two cases, constantly repeating the same question of why Mayo succeeded and McAllen did not, giving a different answer to it each time. Another rhetorical choice in “The Cost Conundrum” is using a reference (Abrams). The author tells a story, analyzes it through his lens, and gives an answer, reinforced through the use of data and statistics, which help to highlight the extent of the problem and the urgent need for reform while giving the article credibility.
The author effectively conveys his case concerning growing healthcare expenditures in the United States by combining storytelling and data-driven research. He can illustrate the human effect of excessive healthcare expenses using personal experiences and stories, making the problem more approachable and accessible to readers. By adding his reflections and arguments to storytelling and credible data, he skillfully engages readers and convinces them of the need to solve the problem.
Works Cited
Abrams, Shane. EmpoWord: A Student-Centered Anthology & Handbook for College Writers. Portland State University, 2018.
Gawande, Atul. “The Cost Conundrum: What a Texas town Can Teach Us About Health Care”. The New Yorker, 2009. Web.