Guest blogger May Mechem Congdon eloquently summarized her impressions of the NY Times “Health For Tomorrow” Conference in her June 3rd blog post on this site. Here are my impressions:
–I believe Toby Cosgrove MD, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, has an excellent grasp of what needs to be done to improve health care in the US (no wonder the White House is considering him to run the VA Hospitals!). He believes there are 2 ways to lower the overall costs of health care: 1)more efficient delivery of care–a few large hospitals in every state to eliminate the cost of the building and upkeep of so many hospital buildings with small outpatient centers providing support and 2)less disease therefore less need for patients to see doctors. I agree with both of his points. If the most talented specialists were in a few centralized locations, there would be a greater chance of getting a correct diagnosis sooner (i.e. a fibromyalgia diagnosis!!) and getting the proper treatment. Of course we want less disease, and “wellness” has become such a catchword–but it is a reminder to all of us that we need to do all we can to FEEL well enough to eat right, exercise and be in charge of our own health and “wellness.” Finding the healthiest, most effective treatments is the key for individual health and wellness.
–Genome sequencing is already being used in some cancer centers to determine what treatments work best for for an individual’s cancer. I guess the cost of sequencing is actually quite low–but charges to the patient may not be (unfortunately just like the cost of medications).
–We all know that drugs and healthcare in general cost more in the US vs other countries, but did you know that the US pays nurses more than any other country? Most of the nurses I have worked with are AWESOME and deserve a high level of pay. The US pays nurses 4 times more than Germany does. Does this translate into better care? William Haseltine (who has been a professor at the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health) says studies show it does translate into better care.
–There is a push for patients to be able to access more data regarding what hospitals charge for services, and many devices and apps are being developed to provide more data on sleep, heart rate, steps walked during the day, etc. I think it is great to have access to this information, but I caution readers to understand that just because there is an app for something doesn’t mean the information you are getting is meaningful. I would like to see studies done on how accurately apps measure what they say they are measuring.
–I agree with May Mechem Congdon that networking during the lunch hour was a wonderful way to educate people about fibromyalgia and its various treatments. I even was able to examine/map someone who thought she might have fibromyalgia (her exam showed that she does). This diagnosis will hopefully propel her to research various treatments for fibromyalgia. She even asked me if I needed an office nurse–I think she would be a great addition to my office, promoting “wellness” in fibromyalgia patients.