A Look Ahead

A blog that I like to read is a blog called DrWes.  Dr Wes, or Dr Westby G Fisher is a cardiologist based in the USA.  His posts are nothing amazingly cutting edge or controversial, bud I really enjoy his writing style, and I could only imagine he would truly bring a sense of 'theatre' to the operating theatre.  (In a good way of course)

What I would like to do today is draw your attention to his latest post also titled "A Look Ahead".  Here he looks into his crystal ball and predicts what changes are in stall for the world of medicine in 2012.  Now, he lives in the USA and I live in Australia, so I am not up on some of the finer detail of the post, but there are three main points that I feel transcend both our countries.

First, there is way too much bureaucratic BS.  Did you know that in Australia 50% of all medical funding is wasted on bureaucracy and administration.  That's half!  If I ran my business that way, I would be out of business.  Dr Wes also talks about how doctors are getting tied down with mandatory administration, instead of treating patients.

In Australia, I believe a massive and complete overhaul of our medical system is required.  Instead of each state having their own health system, completely independent of each other, I believe we need one national system where accountability is maximised and bureaucracy is minimised.  Julia Gillard just released what she called the biggest reform to Australian health since Medicare.

What a load of rubbish!  In my opinion she bent over backwards to give the state governments what they wanted so they could continue to indulge in their own self importance at the tax payers expense.  When Kevin Rudd was PM at least he threatened to pull power from the states, but Julia, you seem more concerned with staying in office (an undemocratic one at that) than doing what is right by the country.

Second, health care would be pushed down to a less qualified person.  This is a toughie.  We have an aging population and more treatments for more diseases are being unearthed, which puts more pressure on the medical resources we have at hand.  I do have suggestions for this one but they are long and another blog I will write later.

Lastly, the third point he makes is very positive.  The advent of social media in medicine.  Patients have never been quite as well informed as what they are now.  Information is at your finger tips and social groups make it easy for patients to talk on line to help find answers, compare notes and share suggestions. It has never been quite as easy for patients to take control of their own health care.  Dr Wes rightly looks at this as a positive.  Many doctors wouldn't.  Like it or not, this technology and the internet are here to stay, and all medical professionals need to embrace it.  Until next time, stay well:)