My wife and I were talking the other day about what passes for healthcare these days. As a runner, she gets some pain in her leg but the doctors are completely clueless as to how to fix it. It seems that more often than not doctors have no answers.
I’ve noticed the same in trying to get a diagnosis on various ailments I’ve suffered. When I bring some health mystery to my doctor for diagnosis, rarely do I seem to get my doctor’s attention. Doctors are great at being mechanics of the body – they can change a tire and even rebuild the occasional engine – but the deep insight into why something happens seems unimportant to them. The preventative maintenance isn’t a priority. I may be cynical, but if they can’t write a prescription for something they don’t want to bother with it.
I don’t know if it’s ever been done, but if someone polled the public to ask if they were getting good value for the cost of their healthcare, I’d bet the overwhelming answer would be no.
I feel that most of my visits to the doctor consist of paying big bucks for nothing more than my doctor to write a prescription for the latest drug and then send me on my way. I could accomplish nearly as much with a few Google searches.
I’d love to see some healthcare business model that offers incentives to doctors to keep people healthy, rather than pay them for each patient visit. Then we’d see some real health care reform in this country, as well as a healthier populace. What we have now just doesn’t cut it.
Mark, on the surface, it makes a ton of sense to do preventative measures to help people but in our current model/system it’s not cheaper. So, for that to become reality we need to foster a system that will allow for people to maintain their health. Hopefully, that will happen in our lifetime.
Excellent thoughts, Mr Turner 🙂
I’ve found the best care I’ve gotten for nerve damage in my leg was from the sports therapist at my doctor’s office. I spent a six months in constant pain, barely walking, regularly needing a cane to a point where I could live with the discomfort, and where I am now running 25 minutes, cycling 30 – 40 miles a trip.
I love my nurse practitioner, and still trust all the specialists I saw, but I’ve learned an important lesson to look beyond them to the people that have the time to sit, listen and work with you.
I did have to pay for this out of pocket, but it was made up by all the co-pays I have avoided not needing all of the specialist visits I have now avoided.