In Search of
Hippocrates
H
WRITTEN BY
Dr. Nancy Palermo Lietz
Healthcare has become challenging
for patients and healthcare providers. They should be the navigators of
the system but because medicine has
been taken over by corporations, medical care has been taken out of their
hands. Costs are skyrocketing and the
health of patients is declining despite
a tremendous increase in spending. It
is estimated that Americans will pay
more than a billion dollars each year in
healthcare costs.
The increase in healthcare spending
is multifactorial. New technology
is expensive and there is a push to
incorporate it even though the necessity is unclear. Doctors order unnecessary tests and perform expensive
procedures in attempts to regain lost
revenue and satisfy patient’s requests.
If drugs, procedures and tests are
new, patients believe they need them.
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Doctors are not always using their
expertise to counsel them otherwise.
Pharmaceutical sales continue to be
one of the leading drivers of increased
spending and hospital costs have
increased ten-fold.
The corporate transition in medicine
has significantly damaged the physicians’ role. He is no longer the conductor orchestrating how care should
be played out but now he is simply
the musician playing what is placed
in front of him. The doctor-patient
relationship has declined due to time
constraints and the increase in the
number of patients requiring care.
Physicians are paid less by outcomes
and success is measured by a dollar amount. Doctors can no longer
provide the care they want for their
patients. Patients feel they receive
rushed, impersonalized care in less