Happy New Year! And Some Healthcare and Patient Empowerment Predictions for 2009
Thursday January 1, 2009
Greetings to you in the this new year! Thought I'd take an opportunity to make a few predictions about what we'll see happen in healthcare and patient empowerment in 2009. Here are a few of the developments I believe we will see in this coming year, in no particular order:
- Patients will begin understanding more and more that we have far more control over our healthcare than we realize. That means the pedestals we've put practitioners on for too long will begin to crumble. We'll realize that we need to take responsibility for directing our own care by partnering with our doctors to make decisions instead of defaulting to what they tell us. We'll do that by asking plenty of questions, and learning more about our diagnoses and treatment options.
- More Americans will have access to care (meaning insurance or government payment programs) through a variety of sources. But that means it will be far more difficult for all of us to access our doctors because more people will be accessing no more doctors. Appointments will last a shorter amount of time than ever because doctors will be fitting more patients into their day. Less time will translate to more errors and misdiagnoses, meaning, therefore, that we patients need to be even more vigilant about our own care.
- MRSA and other hospital acquired infections will take an even higher toll, causing even more deaths than they have to this point. But the uproar will begin getting louder, and due to new transparency laws in many states requiring hospitals to report their infection rates, patients will begin demanding hospitals become safer by taking the steps required to prevent these infections..
- More and more of us will find our medical records are being kept on computers. This is the Electronic Medical Records initiative (EMRs) you're hearing about from president-elect Barack Obama. This is most definitely a good thing because it will save us time and money....
- .... that also ties into the PHR (personal health record.) More and more patients will begin keeping their own records online. And more and more will find their identity stolen or their privacy invaded through some of the free PHR systems being used online. (You can prevent violations of your privacy by knowing which PHR applications are safe, and which ones aren't.)
- More patients will find their insurance won't cover the tests or treatment they believe they need -- more rationing. Two reasons: insurers will make their formulas for cost vs. chances for success much tighter. They won't approve payment for any test or treatment that doesn't provide a better chance for a positive return. Second, they will clamp down even further on defensive medicine -- the tendency for doctors to order too many tests as a way to protect themselves rather than as a way to help their patients.
Do you have predictions for your healthcare in 2009? Why not share them in the Patient Empowerment forum?
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Comments
Hi Trisha:
I’m sticking with your first prediction. Patients will realize that they are an important part of the decision making process when it comes to their health care choices; they will partner with their health care providers rather than expect them to know what’s right for them. They will realize the value of making informed choices and figure out what’s most important to them and whether our health care system provides a match for their needs.
I am hopeful that alternative health care will become more of the norm and that insurance companies will see the value of what’s available to patients besides expensive surgeries and treatments that often cause tremendous pain physically, emotionally and mentally.
I know some may say I’m a dreamer and that’s their perogative. I believe that together we can make health care work - I don’t have a roadmap for how that happens. But, I refuse to succumb to dire predictions of greater errors, more infections, and an increased risk of identity theft.
What I want for all of us is the awareness that we do indeed have a problem with our health care system - it is huge - and there are as many ways to solve it as there are complexities to the issues involved.
I hope and pray that I can be part of the solution. And, I thank you Trisha for bringing so many realities to light for me so that I can see the problems we have more clearly.
Wishing you, your readers and loved ones a happy healthy 2009 and always.