About a week ago I attended a four-day healthcare conference in Orlando, along with around 30,965 other people. The first day at the HIMSS conference, we were told there were 31,000 but by day two they had downgraded the number by about 35. Well, there are a lot of golf courses in Orlando where one could get lost. This was the 50th year this healthcare association had held their event and they provided all of us with a 172-page long conference resource guide. I estimate there were 1,000 exhibitors, based upon the number of times I got lost in different sections of the exhibit hall(s). I lost track of what century I was in at times as I heard people talking about the importance of “patient portals” (this was not supposed to be a Star Trek convention) and I saw 3-D images of internal organs that could be seen without 3-D viewing glasses (I get queasy watching CSI so I definitely don’t need organs jumping off the screen). While this was by far the largest healthcare-related conference I have ever attended, the sheer number of major conferences on some aspect of healthcare literally exceeds the number of weeks in the year. But those numbers wasn’t the one floating around in my head as I put mile after walking-mile on my imaginary pedometer during those four days.
It is estimated that at least 98,000 people die every year in American hospitals due to medical errors. An equal number die from hospital acquired infections. That does not include people who end up dying at home from either of those hospital-incurred issues. And, what about this fact, did you know that people forget 30-70% of what their doctor has told them to do within 24 hours of their office visit? That last scientific statistic may not be such a bad thing when placed alongside the other finding that shows 4 out of 10 people who go to their doctor end up not being treated for the correct issue! As alarming as those statistics are, they were not the numbers going through my head last week.
The number I kept coming back to is the smallest of whole numbers: one. I kept thinking that the one thing that could make the biggest difference in successful healthcare outcomes for each person is their commitment to being active in their own treatment. When walking into the doctor’s office, we are walking into a business. Even if the medical practice is within a nonprofit organization, like Group Health for me here in Seattle, it is still a business. We need to keep our consumer “hat” on and we certainly should not leave our “brains at the door.”
Today our health is not served by an attitude of “whatever you say, doctor.” It is neither fair to you nor your doctor. It is impossible for your doctor to keep up on all things medical. Maybe it was back in the 1970s when there were about 100 new medical studies produced annually that could provide doctors with helpful information related to curing or controlling some diseases. According to the founder and medical director for the Cautious Patient Foundation, Dr. Cari Oliver, there are now 10,000 of these studies published every year.
Which brings me back to the most important number: one. You may not be able to shed those ten pounds you feel do not truly belong to you. Fair enough, but you had better raise the level of caring about being an engaged and informed consumer-patient. If you can do that, then “one” will be a wonderful number for you and for those who love you! Über, indeed.
