A vision of health.
According to the Alberta Ministry of Health, funding for the health system for 2016-2017 is forecast at $21.1 billion.
There is never a perfect fix for health care and budgets and technology and circumstances change all the time. To use some of my favourite phrases health professionals need to, “work smart,” and, “make a plan and plan to change it.” Patients of the health care system need services but should be realistic and considerate in seeking them. For example, most times a cold is best dealt with at home.
I’m not going to offer a perfect solution but I’m going to throw a few user perspective gripes out there and see where they go.
From personal and reported to me experience there have been times when it’s taken so long to get an appointment with a doctor that the condition is either going to worsen, clear up or the patient has to go to the emergency room at the hospital. In many cases the latter is sadly more likely. However, emergency rooms are just that, for emergencies. Also, there are people that go to the doctor for something as trivial as a blocked nose.
Another costly triviality is employers that insist on a doctor’s note every time an employee is out sick. An employer’s absenteeism policy should not be funded by the province. A responsible employee will, if they are sick with a cold or flu will be responsible enough to stay home and not infect colleagues and customers. How about adopting a policy where if the employer’s absentee policy demands a sick note then that’s a $50 charge for each occasion? Employers could easily adopt a self certification system for short absences and persistent absenteeism can be flagged and investigated.
It is especially difficult to recruit doctors in rural locations. I wonder if retired health professionals may be willing to take part in pre-appointment telephone screening for patients on a part-time basis? Of course, there are some risks with this that a flagged triviality could be something worse. However, such a system could also be used to prioritise patients for appointments to make sure that serious cases were seen first or directed straight to the emergency room. Technology will make screening more effective too. I read an article recently about a developing Star Trek like breath testing device that could potentially detect life threatening illnesses very early indeed, including some cancers.
Our population is aging. Me too. I have direct experience via my relatives of the reality of getting old. My grandmother and mother both passed away in nursing homes and bitterly regretted and resented being there. I believe that they both passed away earlier than they would have done because of the deep depression that sunk over them. However, both had medical conditions that the health services said could not be catered for at home.
The scenario of a senior in a hospital bed that can go either home or to a care home and cannot because of either the unsuitability of their home or the lack of a care package or there just not being a place in a nursing home is not new. The hospital bed is blocked to other patients and this has treatment and cost implications right down the line of the health system. I’m a young senior now and I do not wish to go into a care home, ever. I’m sure that’s a wish that’s repeated time and time again. We need some joined up thinking here from the health care providers, municipalities and families. It is cheaper for the health care system and offers better lifestyles for a senior if they can remain at home as long as it is practically possible. Again, monitoring and communication technology can help as can properly funded mobile carers in the towns and counties. Maybe paying families allowances for caring for an elderly relative would work too. Not tax credits, sometime people are too poor to benefit from them.
I have only scratched the surface of a vision of health. Sometimes when one is caught up in the maelstrom of day to day operations one should step back and look at the bigger picture. Feel free to join the debate.