Humors

None of the findings from this blog are humorous; they are, if anything, highly concerning in the fact that our presumed goal of health in the United States is compromised by the hodge podge medical delivery approaches we have patchworked together in our country over the past many years and call them the American healthcare system. Instead, we now have a medical industrial complex that feeds not off of health but of care. There is no American healthcare system. A system implies deliberate design with functionality and an end state in mind. Instead, we are a confederacy of special and corporate interests, government collusion and perverse insurance-driven incentives and disincentives that, ironically, includes, generally-speaking, well-meaning people who want to do good things for others and themselves. Whether they actually do good for others and do it well is not quite as evident. In fact, the answer to whether we are doing good or well is oftentimes a clear no. We apply Bandaid remedies to a steady hemorrhage of lives and treasure instead of contributing to an improved quality of life and higher productivity on behalf of our nation’s population. We are certainly living and working under funny, adverse conditions.

The time has come to inject information into ignorance with a level of transparency only available through the power of an open source exchange. The American public has been bullied by the larger medical community's proprietary interests and manipulated by consumerism. Media personalities spread anecdotal remedies and propagate unproven technologies for personal gain and wealth. Interest groups claim to advocate for health via social media by spreading misinformation into the e-ether under the banner of a grassroots, democratic movement. Politicians and their governments benefit from corporate interests and have, in turn, oversold the value of healthcare insurance instead of incentivizing healthy behaviors. Insurance companies have capitalized on the fears of high cost services in favor of skimming and raiding our coffers to fund their own unnecessary overhead and satisfy their corporate sponsors and executive salaries. We now have multiple layers of middle management who justify their existence by analyzing data and documenting our slow and painful demise as a society with no real actionable solutions.

Ultimately, the answers lie not in any of the three major contributors (commercial interests, government collusion or insurance companies) to our problem; THE ANSWERS LIE IN US – the human beings - the air-breathing component outside of that machine, who must function organically in a larger and sustainable whole, demanding what we deserve: true health and wellness paid by appropriate revenue sources and bolstered with incentives and rewards for healthy, informed choices and behaviors.

Economists note that asymmetry of information is what provides a significant positional advantage to those who are in the know versus those who are not. By publishing these thoughts and distributing it for free, I am trying to leverage what is called first mover’s advantage. I am calling for radical change and disruptive technology for strategic and economic gain on behalf of the providers and patients who try to navigate the confederacy with significant futility.

Granted, there are some brighter points of light in this country that have spearheaded some progress towards committed, healthy lifestyle improvement but even their efficiencies are compromised.  Persistent misinformation is spread through the very same media that we should be mobilizing on behalf of ourselves. Entire public relations departments are located within each of our various institutions to affect or sustain anecdotal truths that are based on eminence or influence instead of evidence and common sense. If we simply released the chains of ignorance and fear, we could reach for much higher goals of achievement and wellness. Let’s do this together by developing a common language for common goals.