Even before the ACA became the law of the land, healthcare circles have been discussing ways to deal with the physician shortage, which is expected to accelerate with more patients entering the system. Nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants and the like are expected to help fill that gap.
But maybe if the healthcare industry took its cues from a number of other industries that have allowed more control by the consumer, or patient, that alleged shortage would be much easier to bridge by empowering and trusting patients to take on some of the more basic elements of healthcare.
Dr. Mark Smith, of the California HealthCare Foundation, urged the industry to take on such actions, speaking to the crowd assembled at the Mayo Clinic’s annual Transform conference in Rochester, Minn.
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Like the travel industry and online insurance, to name just a few examples, technology has enabled consumers to take more control, and simple tasks in healthcare can and should be managed by the patient, Dr. Smith said. In some cases, it’s already happening – many patients who take anticoagulants like warfarin can and do track their own INR at home, instead of going to the lab to have a simple blood draw. And in Europe, some diabetics are even conducting their own dialysis. Of course, it’s not for every patient, but for those who are willing and capable, healthcare should let it happen and resist its paternalistic nature of doctor does all.
“Importantly, we’ll have to add the insights of the patients themselves and technology,” Smith said. “We’ll have to have nonprofessionals do what professionals do. The basic structure of every other industry has been transformed through technology. That revolution has only barely touched healthcare. And that’s largely because of income and cultural protections.
“There is a huge gap between what we have patients doing and what they are capable of doing on their own,” he continued. “We are squandering a huge asset, which is the knowledge, involvement and enthusiasm of patients in their own care. What is it that we’re doing for patients that they can perhaps do as well or better?”
One of the biggest obstacles for this, however, is the “maze of state-based regulations” that vary drastically from one state to the next,” he said.
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While that’s a different beast on its own, in the meantime, Dr. Smith said the healthcare industry should be “transforming the hierarchical structure of who can do what based on years of schooling.”
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