High level trending in healthcare

A study of drug prices in the U.S. and Europe published last spring avoids the apples to oranges problem, and provides compelling evidence that we have a real price problem here in the U.S

Rising healthcare costs are forcing people to pay more attention to preventing diseases, hence a shift in the concept of healthcare from curative-oriented to prevention-oriented. Following sincerely the age-old measures of ‘prevention is better than cure’, one can reduce the chances of contracting a disease. The need of the hour is to make disease prevention a habit, and practise it in all spheres of life.

As hospitals elbow one another to attract patients, increasingly they're hoping to tap into Americans' interest in — and willingness to spend money on — complementary and alternative therapies such as acupuncture and massage.

THREE DOZEN doctors-in-training recently sat in a conference room in Tucson. Arizona sunshine streamed through open French windows. On the floor were votive candles and peacock feathers, symbols of healing. It was the closing ceremony in a month-long course at the Centre for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, promoting the notion that doctors should use alternative treatments alongside conventional ones. Speaking to the students was Andrew Weil, a doctor and campaigner who heads the centre.

Dave deBronkart visited his doctor’s office in 2006 with nagging shoulder pain. A subsequent X-ray showed that his shoulder would heal, but incidentally also revealed a shadow on his lung, turning what deBronkart expected to be a routine visit into diagnosis of a rare form of kidney cancer.

Why do rich nations elect to fund global health campaigns to tackle problems with no supra-national element at all, such as obesity or smoking?

Chronic diseases and conditions - such as heart disease, arthritis, asthma, depression, and diabetes – are the leading causes of death, disability, and rising healthcare costs in America. As of 2009, 145 million Americans – almost half of the population – were living with at least one chronic condition.

"To be blunt, if my wife and I didn't think it was helping him, we wouldn't have continued with it," says Dan Polley. He's talking about Mikey, the Polleys' 2½-year-old in the next room, who was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia when he was 6 months old. Chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant have been crucial elements of Mikey's treatment. But the "it" his father speaks of is nothing like these aggressive, costly, and heavily researched exemplars of western care—it is a kind of touch therapy, from the camp of alternative medicine.

The numbers of and roles assumed by NPs and PAs have been growing steadily, and allowing these providers to take on an even greater role could address the increased demand for primary care.

Eric Dishman is used to thinking about how technology can transform the world of health care. As an Intel Fellow and general manager of the company’s Health Strategy & Solutions Group, his job is all about finding innovative new approaches to healthcare. Eric Dishman: Take health care off the mainframe And he’s no stranger to talking about them. At TEDMED 2009, in the talk featured to the left, Dishman asked us to “Take health care off the mainframe,” boldly comparing the current American health care system to mainframe computers circa 1959.