US health care costs more than any other developed country (we knew that)

There's a couple things that shouldn't be "profit based". I don't mean that literally. Of course there has to be profit margin and money made to pay for things and people, but it shouldn't be at this rate/level. It should be enough to pay for cost, admin fees, a really good salary for doctors in that 150K range instead of the 218K range. Pharmaceutical companies should be "rich" but not super duper Uber rich.

People in this industry should get paid to the amount where they can live really comfortably but not be multi-millionaires.

There's plenty of industries that exist to get super rich, people's health should not be one of them.

Education being another example but we don't have to go there.

While the U.S. Healthcare system does some great and heroic things (Trauma Medicine), it definitely has issues.

In my opinion, one of them is continuing to invest is the EFFECTS of poor diet/lifestyle and not focusing more on PREVENTION. If your sink is overflowing because the drain is clogged, the answer is not to keep using a mop and bucket. The first task should be to turn-off the faucet.

I mean, good grief, we have McDonald's and Wendy's restaurants in hospitals. How insane is that?

"Sickcare" (versus Healthcare) is certainly profitable, but I've long asserted that Prevention could be just as profitable, if not more so. More importantly, though, we're OBLIGATED to do better, because we know better.

Undoubtedly, there are many things that need to change. One of them is the reimbursement system.

Great discussion guys!! I agree with all the comments.

I went with my dad to his cancer doctor appointment the other day. While we were there I mentioned how he eats way too much sugar and that sugar suppresses the immune system. The PA said she didn't think sugar suppressed the immune system!

I really think it's willful ignorance for the most part, but I still can't wrap my head around it. I grew up believing that only the SMARTEST people could be doctors or scientists. I never felt like I was that kind of smart even though I was an honor student. Yet, every doctor I've seen since I've had Lyme acts like they don't have a lick of sense and couldn't think and reason their way out of a paper sack. How can they be smart enough to get through medical school and dumb enough to come out knowing next to nothing about a human body and how it functions nor the implications of our environment on our health and wellbeing. They act like anyone who talks about such things are loonies out in left field somewhere.

I just don't get it. Its like they put 100% faith and trust in whatever they're told in medical school or by the AMA or the CDC or whatever they read in a textbook, without ever thinking logically and reasoning about the information to determine if it's even valid or not. It's ridiculous. They do the same with lab results. I don't think any of my doctors even look at the actual numbers. I think they just look to see if anything is flagged out of the normal range. I don't think they even notice that the "normal range" gets shifted just about every time I get labs done even when all of it is through the same lab - Labcorp. Don't they realize that labs adjust the "normal" range based on actual results. In other words, the sicker the American population gets, the further the lab ranges are adjusted to reflect sick as "normal." Do any doctors besides Ritchie Shoemaker, the mold guru, even notice that or set their own ranges based on non-sick people as opposed to the vast majority of obese, diabetic, allergenic Americans.

Did it say where Canada was ranked on the list?

"'For example, the average salary for a general practice physician in the other countries was between $86,607 and $154,126. In the US, the average salary was $218,173."


Apparently, I chose the wrong profession

astroman said...
WalkingbyFaith - you said it perfect.

My functional MD told me this, and is why he went into functional medicine- he can think on his feet and is not surrounded by idiots.

I love how more people are getting into this field. More and more "legit" medical doctors are saying, "I want to practice medicine and HEALING, the right way. The current model doesn't allow me too. I'm going to leave that paradigm and go into actually helping people."

I bet more doctors would prefer to do that but either are trapped in the current system or like the safety (financially, career-wise) of the current system.

There's a lot I'd say on the matter, if we were all sitting around the dinner table.

But, one thing I'll mention here is that I believe most Doctors and Nurses got into healthcare to help people. I think most of them were motivated by noble intentions. While I was not a healthcare provider, I worked in Healthcare IT for 12 years and worked/talked with a LOT of Doctors (Oncologists, Radiologists, Trauma), Nurses, and MR/CT/X-Ray Technologists in that time.

Many of them are just as frustrated as patients. As previously mentioned by others, Doctors and Nurses actually DO want their patient to get better. Most don't want to simply write scripts, as people will boomerang-around again, because the actual cause of the condition was never addressed.

Also, it's important to acknowledge that the patients themselves are often the cause of the condition (knowingly or unknowingly) by making poor lifestyle choices. That's another rabbit hole on its own, with regard to education (see my previous comment on prevention) and compliance.

Finally, healthcare works have a lot of pressures on them, these days. More than many people realize. Insurance companies are part of the problem (see my previous comment on reimbursements), but there's also the ever-increasing focus on profits, consolidation in the healthcare sector, long hours, attrition, hospitals and hospital groups being run by "bean-counters," malpractice insurance, fear of litigation, maintaining licensure, etc.

Honestly, I'm not sure why people stay in the healthcare field, unless it's the desire to truly make a difference. I know plenty of people that make much more than most Doctors - and have less hassle.

Also...

Personally, I don't think the automatic response to "conventional" healthcare is to necessarily run to "Integrative" or "Functional" medicine practitioners. Like most things, there's good and bad in each camp.

After working with several "alternative" practitioners, I realized they don't have things all figured-out, either. Sadly, I think many physicians run to the "alternative" camp, because they can offer trendy, boutique services; pick-and-choose their clientele; offer expensive supplements and even more expensive testing (with high profit margins); and operate on a cash-only basis and not have to deal with insurance companies. By not having to deal with insurance companies, not only does that reduce their headaches and frustrations, but they also don't have to maintain extra staff to deal with all that paperwork.

Thus, we end-up with people like Mark Hyman, Josh Axe, Joe Mercola, and many others that show-up on the various "Summits." With lines of custom supplements, books, apps, consulting, etc., these folks are riding the trendy Functional Medicine wave and making a tsunami of cash.

Post Edited (The Dude Abides) : 3/21/2018 5:01:17 PM (GMT-6)

"fadified" - I'm going to steal that one! Very true, too!

I agree with you, astroman.

Back in 2014, a yo-yo Rheumatologist ask if I wanted him to write me a prescription for the migrating pain in my muscles/joints.

I declined, and, instead, asked: "What about the role of diet and lifestyle?" I already knew the answer to my question, but I wanted to hear what this 30-plus-year Doctor had to say.

His response was something like: "Diet has nothing to do with any of this."

At that point, I concluded he deserved to be bludgeoned in the taint with a Garden Weasel.