Does American's Healthcare system promise optimistic opportunites??

Our current healthcare system is dysfunctional; I see dysfunction, feel dysfunction, and hear dysfunction daily. The system has reached a level of dysfunction that has generated fear and uncertainty for most Americans; a level of dysfunction that has created a shortage of nurses, physicians, and pharmacists; a level of dysfunction that is nearly bankrupting our country. Needless to say, healthcare is not on my list of “optimistic reflections!”


However, since healthcare is close to my heart, and I am passionate about my profession as a nurse, and I am proud to live in the United States of America, I want to rephrase my thoughts on healthcare and focus on 5 areas of opportunity that, if executed, would reflect “optimism” for the future of our beloved American HealthCare system.

“Optimistic Opportunity 1:”

Individual choice: We deserve to visit a healthcare provider and receive a list of treatment, medication, or prevention options in rank order of cost and effectiveness and proceed to make an independent, conscious decision based on our personal preference.

Currently, we have little to no choice in the healthcare we receive, or the options available to us. Let’s compare our experience with healthcare to other areas of our lives. For example, let’s say we go out to a restaurant for dinner. We receive a menu of options with clear descriptions of each menu item along with the cost of the item. We have the choice of what we order based on our personal preference and price range. We order what we wish to eat, we eat, and we pay our bill, and we go on our merry way. In any consumer buying scenario, we are in the driver’s seat before we spend money: buying a home, car, tv, clothing, hair supplies…….

Now, let’s look at our experience with healthcare. We visit our provider, we tell him or her our complaint (or if we are good, we are simply attending our yearly ‘tune-up’-no complaints necessary), the provider enters information into a computer and sends us away with lab slips, prescriptions, follow-up tests, referrals, ect. We go to the pharmacy to pick up your prescription and the pharmacist says, “that will be $502” we gasp, we had no idea how much the medication cost, and we debate if the medication is worth the price, or not?

We go to the lab, they draw our blood…we have no idea what they are looking for?? Seven months later, we receive a loooong bill from the laboratory, final bill: “$1012.67.” We had no idea what we were buying when we went to the lab, and we certainly had no idea how much the tests cost!

Did we ever have a choice in the care we received? What if another medication, with equivalent effectiveness, cost $4 rather than $502? What if we didn’t need all of the labs that the provider ordered? What if knowing the results of certain tests won’t change the treatment plan, or the outcome? Would we still want to pay?

I am shocked, almost daily, by the number of tests, labs, medications, treatments that are prescribed or recommended without thorough cost-effective analysis. Why? Because we accept and believe that healthcare happens to us, we are letting the system rob us of our financial future and potentially our emotional and physical future.

Healthcare belongs to the individual receiving the care, but most often the individual has no idea what he or she is buying or receiving? Does this make sense?

We need to take a stand on healthcare. We need to start asking our providers, “is this the absolute best treatment option for my condition? What evidence did you use to support this decision?” What other options are available? Do I need this test? What will happen if the test indicates X? What if the test indicates Y? What lifestyle changes can I make to avoid this medication? How much will this cost? Can I defer treatment until I determine the price?

Opportunities 2-5 to follow..