Thankful

As much as political pundits like to bemoan the state of healthcare in the United States, there are certainly many aspects of it we should all be very, very thankful for. To be sure, there’s room for improvement. Costs are high and aren’t correlated with quality. Care is fragmented. Unnecessary care is rampant, due to both lack of coordination and the American phenomenon of “defensive medicine.” But, just as the man who yearns for a higher-paying job, bigger house and more beautiful partner, we in healthcare too may fail to realize the greatness of what we already have. We yearn to improve care, to lower costs, and these are noble goals necessary to maintain both the physical and fiscal health of our nation. Despite our problems, though, America has one of the best healthcare delivery systems in the world, if not the best. I know, I know. Studies don’t agree with that statement. As my colleague Bob Hermann wrote on this blog earlier this week:

“Study after study after study from organizations like The Commonwealth Fund and the Journal of the American Medical Association have found that not only do we spend more per person on healthcare than any other industrialized country in the world, but our clinical outcomes are also really, really bad”
 
And while I don’t dispute the studies, the one thing I think when I read them is always the same: Would I really care about value if I, or a loved one, was faced with a diagnosis that could mean death or a significant reduction in quality of life?
 
Of course not. What I care about is access. And nowhere beats America on wide-spread access to cutting-edge technologies and therapies. That’s not to say we don’t have disparities; we do. Those who are uninsured and less health literate may not know about or be able to afford the most cutting-edge therapies. However, expanded coverage will start to change that — albeit slowly. But at least these therapies are available, and often readily so, in our country.
 
Comprehensive cancer centers exist in nearly every metropolitan area; HIV medications are expensive but not impossible to source; antibiotics are easy to come by; and surgery is done in clean facilities under anesthesia. Not all is true in other parts of the world.