Third Leading Cause of Death
by Jane Malkoff MSN RN NP
We have been taught to believe our health care and support needs are better dictated to us by the health care system. How is that model working for us? Since medical errors are now confirmed as the third leading cause of death in the U.S. (just behind heart disease and cancer) we must admit it is not working very well for us at all.
We are encouraged to believe we do not have the savvy to understand our bodies or our medical records. We are often treated as if our questions are a burden to our physicians. While we are known to stand tall and proud in our consumer power in most other markets, most of us have somehow come to believe we cannot possibly influence the health care system with our consumer power. When made to feel like a small child to be seen and not heard, it is easy to lose one’s power (voice, money, health). It is a good thing technology manufacturers empower us to succeed. Look at what we have been able to comprehend and engage with in the U.S. when it comes to technology advancements. We are no dummies for sure! When did we become a country of patients at the mercy of a system still using models out of the late 1700s?
Patients die primarily from care that is inadequately coordinated –this could be poor communication, wrong diagnosis, medication complications, and more. In other words, this third leading cause of death in the U.S is preventable! Those in the know about patient safety efforts recognize the efforts thus far have produced no change in the statistics. However, those organizations involved in reducing the errors appear to be the same entities responsible for the lack of coordinated care in the first place. Isn’t this putting the fox in charge of the hen-house?
If there ever was a best time to use the phrase, “We need a new paradigm”, that time is now. We at Clarity support all consumers of the health care system in their efforts to be ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS and DISCERNING CONSUMERS! You are more than capable and your life may truly depend on it. Spread the word.