Some Steps
Forward, Too Many Steps Back - A Patient's
Decade in Review
December 2009
We’re 10 years into the millennium, and it’s a
good time to take a look at progress, or lack
thereof, for American patients.
One would hope that we could report a decade of
advances – better testing, diagnosing,
treatments and even more cures. And yes, there
has been some of that. In 2003, for example, the
Human Genome Project identified and mapped more
than 20,000 human genes. The mapping has created
a platform for “personalized” medicine. That
means that in the future, we will be diagnosed
and treated based on our own, individual genetic
makeup, a major step forward in effective
treatments.
There has been an explosion of health
information available on the Internet during
this decade, too, which is both a blessing and a
curse. We patients now have easy access to the
same information our doctors reference,
explained in terms we can understand. But on the
flip side of all the good information, is the
bogus and fraudulent information that’s also
found online. Too often patients suffer the loss
of money and improved health because they don’t
assess the credibility of Internet information.
Patients and their providers both report a
widening gap in communications. For example,
patients have developed broader interest in
complementary and alternative therapies during
the past 10 years. But while our curiosity and
knowledge base increases, most of our providers
resist the learning curve and the collaboration,
refusing to discuss anything beyond traditional
forms of treatment.
Exacerbating the communications gap is the fact
that appointment times have grown shorter. The
appointment that might have lasted 20 minutes in
2000, lasts fewer than 12 minutes today.
Patients are increasingly frustrated that they
don’t have enough time with their doctors to get
the information they need about their medical
problems.
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine issued its
watershed report about patient safety which
showed that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans
died each year from preventable medical errors.
A decade later, we have made no progress in
reducing deaths from safety violations. In fact,
the numbers are increasing. The CDC tells us
that 100,000 people die each year from
preventable MRSA infections alone, and many
experts claim the real numbers are much higher.
One constant in American healthcare has
strengthened over this decade –the influence of
money on our care. On the one hand, promising
drugs have been developed because pharmaceutical
companies can profit from them. On the other
hand, care is rationed when it is considered too
expensive.
That dichotomy sets the stage for healthcare
reform and the future of healthcare in America.
During the next ten years, I predict we will
find improved access to care as a population,
decreased access as individuals, and more
reasons than ever before to take responsibility
for our own medical decision making.
One thing’s for sure – it’s going to be a bumpy
ride.
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Trisha Torrey is Every Patient’s
AdvocateTM.
She offers no medical advice,
but empowers those who
want to learn more about
diagnosis and treatment options
by
providing useful tools and
resources.
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