Friday the 13th
October 13, 2017
We woke on this Friday the 13th to a country in a health crisis. Yesterday, millions had access to health insurance; a month ago 9 million children did as well.We woke on this Friday the 13th to a country in a health crisis. Yesterday, millions had access to health insurance; a month ago 9 million children did as well.
Nothing will change in the foreseeable health future. So we, you and I, must become the change that we have looked to our government to provide since our health industry model changed more than 30 years ago.
The health industry has gone from the kindly old family physician of the 50s, 60s and 70s, to the medical behemoth that has little time for its patient-based population, focused more on its bottom line costs than their patients’ recovery.
Perhaps we, as the consumers, need to take these next few months to review which aspects of the health industry truly benefits us and which parts do not. We can begin with:
- Our reliance on bacteria-resistant or opioid-related medications;
- Our insistence on 65+ childhood vaccines when a generation ago there were only 12;
- Our unwillingness to follow the generally-accepted schedule set for mammograms and colonoscopies
What we do need is:
- More than 7 minutes with our medical providers.
- Medical providers who can diagnosis without looking at a cell phone app
- Medical providers who understand anatomy and psychology so that they track their patients’ pain
- And for us, as consumers we need an increased knowledge of how our bodies work
- We need as informed consumers to be heard by our medical provider
We have to become the change that we have longed for since our health system model changed in the 80s. I remember that weekend well. On Friday, doctors still charged $12 for an office visit. Over the weekend, their memberships in the HMOs took affect and on Monday, their rates were $60 per visit.
And so it began.