How to upgrade the health system?

[Human Mint]

The biggest problem we see in the health system is that it prioritizes how to treat symptoms instead of root causes. Today understanding root cause of illnesses is just secondary.

That's where it falls short. Because it is actually incredible good at treating symptoms, god-like level. But any cause not understood is labelled as "idiopatic" and put under the rug. 

The reason is because it is way more hard to find the root cause and solve it. It would lead health institutions to bankrupcy. But that's where the definite cure lies.

So how do we upgrade the health system?

 

[Judy2]

i'm friends with a few doctors and they are all completely overworked - even when pregnant. some of them become ill because of their night shifts or are close to burnout. therefore, i think a key aspect of reforming the health system should entail prioritising the health of the nurses and doctors that the system itself is comprised of...otherwise, it's just completely backwards, to keep a "health care system" running at the expense of people's health.

 

another aspect should be making more time for proper doctor-patient-interactions. most doctors enter the profession with a great deal of idealism and they would like to make more time, it's just that the system makes it really hard for them to do so. i spoke with an orthopedist a few days ago and he seemed quite competent, but he was in the room with me for about 3 minutes and had to run off before he could properly explain to me what's wrong with my legs. i do believe that 3 minutes were enough for him to form an impression, but it was not enough to explain to me what was going on, and he was in such a rush that he wrote down an incorrect diagnosis on my letter (something to do with the shoulders, rather than the legs). there were four rooms and i think he had to rush through them in 4-minute-intervals all day.

Edited 1 hour ago by Judy2

[PsychedelicEagle]

It's a systemic problem.

Both policies and people are short-sighted, in that they don't have the capacity to think and act in alignment with long-term outcomes.

For example, some of the causes of most chronic diseases are being overweight and consuming excess calories and refined foods. Thus, most people could avoid or delay — with some probability — CVD, T2Diabetes, etc., if they had a healthy diet. Yet, they continue to consume the same crappy food for years and decades. On the collective level, eating crappy food is seen as fun, encouraged (e.g., tax reduction for some junk-food companies), and normalized.

So, the modus operandi of physicians is just a reflection or this more fundamental way in which people and society operate. Whenever we meet a new physician, we should expect they operate short-sightedly. Which implies that getting appropriate healthcare requires effort to research and curate whoever you choose to be your doctor.

Edited 1 hour ago by PsychedelicEagle

[PsychedelicEagle]

1 hour ago, Human Mint said:

So how do we upgrade the health system?

I think really the question is how do we upgrade society and individuals to become long-term, sustainable thinkers.