I know it’s not Friday yet (when I usually share fun cartoons), but I saw this cartoon shared by Pete Friesen and I couldn’t help but share it.
This parallels really well with this tweet I saw from ePatientDave as well:
Hey e-patients Did you know this?? Extraordinary thread! Be informed! #S4PM
Should every patient ask their doc for every script, "What's the NNT for this?" as well as "What'll it cost me?" cc @ClearHealthCosts https://t.co/Hae0jGiFUE
— Dave deBronkart (@ePatientDave) July 11, 2018
Drugs have done amazing things. Look no further than all the lives saved by penicillin. However, sometimes we need to slow things down and consider all of our options (including drugs).
The problem right now is that there’s nothing really slowing things down for doctors and are care providers. Everything seems to just be speeding up.
I had a doctor today proudly share “I’m an internist can see 40 patients with rapid work on EMR side and also complete my MIPs clicks.”
He was trying to compliment his EHR software for working so effectively. However, you have to wonder what kind of care those 40 patients received and what kind of care they could have received if he only had to see 20. I’m not suggesting he gave them bad care, but I’m suggesting that the care would have been better if he only had to see 20 and not 40 patients. The problem is that doing so will cut his pay in half (literally).
This isn’t doctors fault specifically. They want to get paid for the work they do like anyone else. It’s why so many are excited by things like DPC (Direct Primary Care) and value based care. However, in terms of the later many are still skeptical and for good reason. Value based care could mean creating more of a relationship with a patient, but it could also mean more hoop jumping.
Maybe many of our stressed-out care providers could use some canine stress therapy as well.