Let’s begin by recognizing our healthcare system as the best on the planet. We have better access to more skilled medical providers than any place on earth. That said, there is a constantly growing clamor to provide a national healthcare plan–financed by tax dollars or privately or a combination. We’ve commented in prior posts that Americans cannot afford such a system today for various reasons. So let’s focus now on how we could work to make the current system much more effective and efficient…maybe this suggestion will become a building block for an eventual Universal healthcare plan. We offer the following… all medical expenses begin with a doctor visit somewhere….office, hospital ER, clinic setting, nursing home, etc. It is safe to say that 90% of all medical expenditures result from an MD assessment of the individual’s physical or mental symptoms. But what if your MD graduated last in his/her class, is going through a personal crisis and is distracted or is just having a bad day? Your diagnosis is possibly wrong and the quality of care is severely impacted. You’ve heard of malpractice and quite often a misdiagnosis of symptoms started care down the wrong path–resulting in useless tests, medication, a worsening condition , maybe even death. Our suggestion: using currently available computer algorithms, an individual enters all noted symptoms into a home-based system which then accesses his/her medical history, age, gender and any other relevant information. It then applies all data thereby producing a single page that lists by highest probability the possible diagnoses. It then suggests the value of the individual’s follow up. Is a Primary Care or Specialist suggested? Is this an urgent situation or is it possible to delay care until something more definitive happens? Other comments may be provided. The individual now has a 100% list of every possibility and can take action with total confidence that the latest expertise has been applied and treatment will be directed efficiently and effectively. This helps the doctor because he/she has a starting point for administering care. Along with improved efficiency and effectiveness, the incidents of malpractice should decrease drastically. All this will significantly lower the cost of care while producing vastly improved healthcare results. We have the technology NOW to do this process. Now we need the American Medical Association and other key players to get on board. A successful launch would seem the first step toward universal care.
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