An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Many doctors believe that much more attention should be paid to preventative care, rather than waiting for health issues to arise. What do you make of this?
Original content is for Non-commercial use under Creative Commons. Except where otherwise noted.
Some Rights Reserved. Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Discuss
Stephen Huff on January 16, 2008, 11:30 AM
I have read somewhere that Chinese doctors used to be paid while their patients were well and stopped being paid when they got sick. Interesting system. If you pay doctors to cure sick people rather than keep people healthy, they have a financial incentive to create more sick people. Of Course, most Doctors are too nice to do that.
Ryne Cee on January 17, 2008, 6:24 PM
There are many barriers to seeking preventative care in the United States. Firstly, there is a lack of primary care physicians who can often diagnose an ailment before it exacerbates and causes the patient to procure services, much more expensive ones at that, from a local emergency department. Secondly, individuals in this country who have private insurance have little incentive to investigate, or in some instances report, potential maladies because it will raise their premiums or make them ineligible for their current insurance. Lastly, there are numerous indigent, uninsured, and underinsured members of our country who utilized emergency room services as their only line of health care. As I mentioned earlier this is not nearly as effective as identifying and treating the condition early, both in terms of cost and patient outcome. To rectify these, it would be necessary to undergo healthcare reform for insurance to be sure, but also to undergo an increased effort in health literacy so that patients better understand their own health and how to maintain it.
Gordon Freeman on January 21, 2008, 2:05 PM
Healthcare has become a business, multi-billion dollor pharmicutical companies hold more clout in any treatment center than a patient ever could, why should they cure? Why not treat for extended periods of time. I feel that prevention is the ONLY way to protect yourself not just from disease but a corrupt system of medicine. Its not just having your bi-monthly check up, or checking at random for ailments you may or may not have. Its eating healthy, its excersize, its taking general care of your body.
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or Register