Comments on: Missouri Healthcare Discussion

By: ap

ap — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 03:10:59 +0000

who said this?

“70-80% of everything the doctor says isn’t understood by the patient”

Do you have a citation or source at all please?

By: Passing on the costs of unhealthy behavior « Patient Centric Healthcare

Passing on the costs of unhealthy behavior « Patient Centric Healthcare — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 12:30:07 +0000

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By: Frederick Navarro

Frederick Navarro — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:02:44 +0000

The fact that doctors are not understood by most patients is the doctor’s fault–all the way. I took my 16 year old daughter in for a nasty cold sore on her lip. The doctor said something like “You have a severe edema. It is more likely viral than bacteriologic and best treated with a simple analgesic.” Of course my daughter’s eyes glazed over at “edema”. I thought this doctor must not be secure with his intelligence. All he had to say was, “You have a swollen lip. It will probably go away on its own in a few days. Just put some cream on it so it won’t hurt as much.”

On the issue of better disease management and education, the recent report by Rand does not support this.

The solution you propose–more education, more screenings, and more wellness activities–is not the answer. We need to understand what solution we’re throwing at who and why in order to make a real difference. That, unfortunately, will not come from a focus on disease and risk factors. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but it is the truth.