The system is broken.
For example, if you go to the doctor and find out you have high cholesterol and/or high blood pressure, you’ll be given a drug to lower them—and expected to take that drug for the rest of your life. There is rarely any serious investigation into why your cholesterol or blood pressure is high in the first place.
The average GP has on average 8-10 minutes per client visit. If a patient has multiple chronic conditions, is taking several medications, and presents with new symptoms, it is nearly impossible to provide quality care during that 10-minute visit.
How and why did it become this way…
Can you imagine a future where you go to the doctor and find out you have high cholesterol and/or high blood pressure. Instead of prescribing you medication the doctor looks up an available Health Coach in your area and arranges a in-home consultation.
The Health coach meets you at your house, teaches you some relevant nutrition basics, completes a kitchen maker over, takes you grocery shopping, returns home and you both cook meals together for the following few days – the Health Coach might also prescribe a local gym or online workout program appropriate for you. Will this ever happen? I’m not sure.
The system is broken.
However, don’t get me wrong. If I get hit by a bus, I definitely want to go to the hospital! The system works amazingly for acute, life-threatening situations. Conventional medicine is also embracing new technologies to do some amazing things, like restoring sight to the blind, re-attaching limbs, and potentially fighting cancer with nanorobots!!
I’m taking about the current approaches (like my firsts scenario) being outdated, expensive and inefficient toward preventing and reversing chronic disease. Recent statistics suggest that more than 85 percent of chronic disease is caused by environmental factors like diet, behavior, environmental toxins, and lifestyle!
Did you know chronic disease will cost our economy $320 million is medical fees and the government spends $1 billion planning, coordinating and reviewing chronic disease management and encouraging good practice in primary care. (according to a recent Grattan Institute report).
The good news is, the solution I mentioned above is being modeled and talked about within privation institution circles and has the potential not only to prevent and reverse chronic disease, but also to reinvent the healthcare system in a way that satisfies the needs of both clinicians/practitioners and patients.
Here’s the hoping the system can be fixed.