The intent of this program is to show the audience that there is much more involved in their hospital care than one normally sees as a patient or casual visitor. Although, admittedly, the costs of hospital care to the patient are high, there is a valid reason for these costs. To lower costs drastically would likely cause a lowering of the quality of care.
This program re-enacts the emergency admittance and hospitalization of a small girl, showing step-by-step all aspects of her medical care. The physician in charge of this case narrates the sequence describing the procedures he and his colleagues followed to save the girl's life. Also included is an itemized breakdown of the daily room charge at the hospital. At the end of the program a professor of surgery and chief administrator of the hospital talks about medical costs and services in the future.