By David Webb, AP

Some sobering statistics only reinforce what we already know. We don’t have a healthcare system in the U.S. What we have is a Sick Care System. Although we hear more and more about the importance of preventive care, in reality we are far from a Wellness Care medical system. We still treat illness only after it has occurred. According to Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, 95% of U.S. healthcare dollars are spent on treating illnesses after they occur. How do we explain as a nation the vast difference between our annual healthcare expenditure and our healthcare ranking in the world? Currently, we spend 2.3 trillion dollars each year on healthcare, far more than any other nation, but our healthcare system ranks only 37th among all nations. Why is it that America is spending so much money on healthcare, but the health of its citizens is so poor?

There are many in the healthcare industry that believe there is a solution to this problem. Dr. Dean Ornish, founder and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine research Institute in Sausalito, California, has spent the last 32 years directing clinical research that he believes proves that comprehensive lifestyle changes may begin to reverse even severe coronary heart disease without drugs or surgery. He stated to our senate health committee: “Studies have shown that changing lifestyle could prevent at least 90% of all heart disease.” Imagine if our doctors started teaching their patients how to implement a healthy lifestyle that could help prevent disease? I believe that the physician’s role should be as an educator first and foremost. What message does it send when we go to our doctor for a check-up, are told we have high cholesterol and then with not a mention of what we can do to change our diet and lifestyle to turn this around, instead the doctor just hands us a script for a drug to take? If our doctor even mentions the importance of diet, do we ever hear any more than “You need to eat better?”

I believe that many of our physicians are well meaning and caring doctors who are doing their best under the constraints of health insurance control. It is not the individual doctors who are at fault, but rather a faulty healthcare system controlled by pharmaceutical and insurance company interests. Yet, if we are to see a positive change in our healthcare system, we as individual physicians must step outside of our comfort zone and change how we treat our patients. I don’t remember anywhere in the Hippocratic Oath that the primary mission of a doctor is to make as much money as possible, and if you can help a few patients in the process, then good for you. As a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, I see many of my colleagues falling into the same practice. They find it easier and are able to see more patients if they merely stick a few needles in a patient and move on to the next treatment room rather than spend the time necessary to help educate their patients about dietary and lifestyle changes. In ancient China, the physician was paid a stipend as long as their patient remained healthy. If the patient became ill, payment ceased. Maybe we should start implementing a similar approach and see how that turns our healthcare system around.

I have found that many people are fed up with our current approach to healthcare and are looking for something different. They want to stop the cycle of more and more drugs and the resulting downward spiral of their health. They’re hungry for information about how they can regain true and lasting health. In part II of Sick Care vs. Well Care in the U.S., I will outline the components of a good Well Care system. These are the important pieces of a personal healthcare program that we each can start implementing now to turn our health around if we already have illness or prevent illness if we are well. If we believe that change is possible and we all work together toward that change, I believe we can end the disturbing trend we are seeing in the health of Americans, where childhood obesity and diet related diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are at crisis levels, and many of our modern diseases are steadily increasing despite our efforts to contain them.

Category: Wellness Care
Tags: Healthcare, Sick Care, Wellness Care, Prevention, Preventive Medicine, heart disease