Patients themselves play key role in wasteful system

Regarding the Feb. 4 editorial “The war on waste” (p. 24), while preventive care is a great concept, there are still far too many of us who choose an unhealthy lifestyle and then want an instant “fix” when we have health issues. Generally, those of us with that attitude unfortunately end up with catastrophic illnesses.

Regarding readmissions, it’s really difficult to tell a congestive heart failure patient not to come to the ED for treatment when they are having difficulty breathing. Once there, is a prudent physician really going to tell the patient to relax and go home? In our litigious society, it’s very doubtful.

As for the concept of too much of everything—testing, procedures, drugs—we have to transform the current thought processes of Americans if we are ever to make a dent in this. I think it’s the patient driving this overutilization rather than totally the prescribing practitioner. Between threat of lawsuits and intense competition, physicians don’t always have the luxury of following their medical training and best clinical judgment. Instead, they run a gamut of tests and procedures, prescribing the latest, greatest drugs (the patient probably provided the list), all to keep the patient happy and themselves out of court.

American healthcare is in crisis, and to point fingers at one offender or problem only ignores another major part of it. Comprehensive private healthcare reform is needed in order to get control of prices and more importantly, better outcomes.

Denise Adema Fort Myers, Fla.