Thursday, August 30, 2007

August 2007 Christine's Corner

There are a lot of things I do not know in life. I do not know the specifics of exactly why our healthcare system is the way it is or how it came to be that we have in some ways accepted systems that no longer serve us as they perhaps once did. I do not know how to fix the current failings in our ability to retain adequate healthcare at an affordable price. I do not know how to cure disease or ease the suffering of people in the world. What I do know is that I believe we all are here to learn, and that all of these things are changeable.

In my professional history, I have focused heavily on quality systems. One of the key philosophies behind quality systems is that you must first identify the key components of an effective system and then evaluate how the different parts of that system interact and inter-relate with one another. At that point you can begin to identify which areas of the system need to be strengthened or made more robust so that the system can be made more comprehensive, efficient and effective.

Using that method to evaluate the current effectiveness of our healthcare system, I would have to say there are a variety of areas that need further evaluation and improvement in order for the system to be effective overall. So what are some of the key components in our current system?

Insurance or a method of payment
Accurate and swift diagnosis of the condition
Our health practitioners
The law as it relates to our healthcare
Communication
Treatments and facilities
Prevention measures and education
Patients/clients

Obviously, as described in the 'Sicko' article (refer to page 12 of this issue), our current method of payment for treatment needs serious improvement. The procedures, medications, services and facilities that are billed are astronomically expensive with large profit levels at almost every layer of the bill. Additionally, our current structure and measures for insurance are under-serving the customers. As insurance companies strive to keep their own profit margins high, large numbers of patients find themselves either excluded from life-saving treatments or are so under-insured that they cannot afford to pay for the treatments. That is not to even mention the millions of individuals who are simply unable to find affordable insurance at all.

Another method we could use to improve the insurance element of this system is to broaden the treatments that are approved as payable by the insurance companies. I am uncertain whether normal citizens who have not had personal cause to know are aware that even some 'standard' treatments in our current care methods can be denied as 'experimental'. There is often no insurance coverage allowed at all for more natural prevention or treatment measures. This obviously falls in line with our current societal thinking as the FDA has ruled that illness can only be cured by a drug, but are we not ready to embrace new paradigms in our thinking?

Diagnosis itself can in some cases be swift. However, as there is little integration of the variety of modalities that could assist in the patient care, there is a concern that an impact can be felt regarding whether the correct diagnosis has been obtained in some cases. There are other centuries-old systems that have been used for diagnosis, and to my knowledge we are using few if any of those methods of evaluating the body for diagnosing within the traditional healthcare modality.

Our health practitioners, their skills and their knowledge base are all critical to our success when it comes to facing a health dilemma. I found it shocking in my article on The China Study that most doctors receive very little education regarding nutrition. It could also be beneficial to have more focus on other health modalities during the educational process of studying health and medicine than teaching strictly allopathic medical approaches. This is now particularly relevant given the recent discoveries in the field of quantum physics and the impact of those revelations on some of the hypotheses in our traditional medical system. Not long ago, the science of chiropractic was touted as quackery, and today there is significant evidence that chiropractic can be very beneficial to numerous aspects of our health. Although most health practitioners will ultimately specialize, having a better balance of knowledge regarding the mechanisms and elements of other healing modalities may actually prove very beneficial to the patients themselves.

Additionally, we need to ensure reasonable and meaningful working environments and recognition for our health practitioners. There is no question that our health practitioners deserve to be fairly compensated for the work they do to improve and in some cases even save our lives. We should, however, evaluate what we require of them as they pass through their residency programs on the way toward establishing their own practices and careers. Given the more recent understanding of the importance of balance in our lives and the impact of imbalances on the human body, our current method of requiring staggering hours from our medical residents may be something that needs to be reviewed. All of us know the impact that sleep deprivation, long work hours and high stress have on our ability to make profound and reasonable judgments in a high-paced environment. The fact that we have not yet extended that knowledge toward a new evaluation of our current training methods of medical practitioners is unfortunate and outdated.

The single largest issue related to the legal aspect of our healthcare system is undoubtedly legislation and practices relating to malpractice lawsuits. Frivolous lawsuits increase insurance costs for everyone - not only the doctors and patients but also everyone in between. To be certain, not all lawsuits are frivolous and there are other contributing factors including the laws themselves. However, as with almost any element of our healthcare system, it is staggering to pause and consider how much the system overall would be improved simply by improving this one element alone.

Communication is an issue that receives a lot of focus in all industries as it is perhaps the number one tool that can provide a better chance of success in nearly all things. Without the right information, there is no way that we can make informed and accurate decisions. Given our history of accepting only certain beliefs that are in line with our requirement for statistically proven results, we have perhaps limited our ability to receive information from other sources that bear merit. There are individuals and groups who do not recognize the methods or results from non-traditional approaches, however, how do we adequately know what methods can best serve us without full communication of all of the possibilities.

The communication element of our healthcare system can be vastly improved. We could definitely benefit by increased communication between the patients and the healthcare providers. Greater levels of communication between the patients and the insurers as well as the healthcare providers could aid not only in providing better service between all, but would also serve as a reminder that the 'cases' are actually human beings.

There is no question that America has numerous state of the art treatment facilities. Around the world, we have developed treatment facilities, equipment and devices that can really be beneficial toward regaining and/or maintaining our health. Unfortunately access to them is often very costly and many people cannot afford to get the access they need. Additionally, it would be beneficial to broaden our willingness to investigate alternative forms of treatments. This issue was highlighted for me not too long ago when I was trying to find an air transport for a gravely ill loved one. The conditions of that transport were that the patient could not have had any alternative forms of care in her treatment plan in order to be given transport on the plane. Perhaps the policy of the company originated out of some form of compliance with insurance regulations, or perhaps the company for whatever reason had decided not to become involved with patients who had received non-traditional medical care. I will never know. I just remember feeling incredulous during my grief and panic that my loved one might actually die simply because she could not be granted safe and quick transport home as a result of trying an alternative treatment to save her life.

Speaking of treatments, what about prescriptions? The current condition of this element of our system leaves me saddened. I do not know anyone who does not wonder just what has gone wrong with our system as they watch reports of our seniors and other citizens flocking to the borders to buy prescriptions that they can more readily afford. Truly, the cost of developing a new drug and shepherding that new drug through the various clinical trials and regulatory processes is enormous. All products, whether medically related or not, bear a cost of production, distribution, etc. However, can we really support purchasing products that are in some cases grossly adjusted for profit when they can be required to support life on a daily basis for some individuals? Clearly we must expect more from ourselves as a society.

Nationalizing the prescription industry so that a patient can get refills from any pharmacy could also be very beneficial. With a nationalized system, pharmacies could also ensure that what they are prescribing is in line with the previous medications prescribed for the customer. This type of nationalized system could lead to further advances in terms of health history, indications and treatment tracking by providing more comprehensive and readily accessible information.

Prevention and education are in my opinion among the most important tools we have that can enable us to either live better when we are ill or to avoid many diseases altogether. Prevention education is actually, I believe, working fairly well in comparison to the other elements of our system. We have taken great strides in the most recent years in establishing and educating the public about preventive measures in health. We know that balance in our lives is important, as is good rest, exercise and a healthy diet.

There is another aspect of education, including prevention education, that bears some discussion however. Although it does certainly appear that our society may be getting ready to be more open to non-traditionally based information, the health education largely available today is mostly allopathic in nature. It would be marvelous to be able to freely choose, and have accessible, on all the different modalities of treatments available, which obviously, is a large part of why CoSozo was founded. While information is not the same as education, education can simply not begin without adequate information. I am hoping that CoSozo can go a long way toward investigating, supplying and publishing more information than is readily available in that regard.

And at last - the most important element - us, the clients and patients. At times it seems the war between which healthcare approach is more important, more accepted, more sound glosses over the reason why we care about any of it to begin with. At the end of the day, we are all humans. Our lives and the quality of our lives are directly impacted by the quality of our health. That is the bottom line. The healthcare system exists, or should exist, for us, each one of us. We should not accept as individuals a sub-standard quality of care. We should all demand, as one of our most fundamental human rights, that we be given access to the finest and most comprehensive healthcare that fits for us. We should be able to make the healthcare decisions for ourselves that we are in alignment with what our bodies indicate they need and/or with what we believe will benefit our health.

~posted by Christine, 5:56 PM