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Good article on where medicine needs to head to become more effective at addressing chronic illness and to remain a sustainable system:
http://www.jeffreybland.com/uploads/Bland Integr Med J 2009 Reforming the US Healthcare System.pdf
Key points:
*Switching from reactive/pathology-based system to proactive/prognostic-based; "prospective" or "functional" medicine
*Uses systems biology approach that "focuses on underlying functional disturbances in physiology at an early stage of development prior to the onset of severe pathology".
*More primary care focus
*Need to develop reimbursement systems to reward earlier interventions, lifestyle counseling, etc.
Clearly, any of the currently proposed healthcare reform that happens through Congress will simply perpetuate the same broken model of chronic disease care, will not make us healthier, and will not save money. More effort needs to go into implementing on a larger scale the functional medicine approach described in the article.
http://www.jeffreybland.com/uploads/Bland Integr Med J 2009 Reforming the US Healthcare System.pdf
Key points:
*Switching from reactive/pathology-based system to proactive/prognostic-based; "prospective" or "functional" medicine
*Uses systems biology approach that "focuses on underlying functional disturbances in physiology at an early stage of development prior to the onset of severe pathology".
*More primary care focus
*Need to develop reimbursement systems to reward earlier interventions, lifestyle counseling, etc.
Clearly, any of the currently proposed healthcare reform that happens through Congress will simply perpetuate the same broken model of chronic disease care, will not make us healthier, and will not save money. More effort needs to go into implementing on a larger scale the functional medicine approach described in the article.