I have a dream

Welcome to the Ideal Medical Practices blog! I was invited by Dr. Gordon Moore to share my thoughts along with those of various other physicians involved in the Ideal Medical Practice or IMP movement, a grassroots attempt at solving our nation's dysfunctional healthcare system. 

I am a family physician located in South Pasadena, CA and have been operating a solo micropractice for the past 5 years. I left a large HMO after 13 years frustrated at the lack of time available for me to do the job I was trained to do, and I got tired of running on the hamster wheel. Now I am like over a hundred other physicians and health care providers around the country, trying to find a better way to care for patients by keeping my practice small and personal.

In light of it being Martin Luther King Jr. Day today, I thought I would voice some of the dreams I have for the future of healthcare in America.

I dream of the day when every person in America has access, not just to insurance, but to affordable healthcare. Because insurance without access is like a key with no door or a fork with no food -- not very useful.

I dream that there will come a time when there are no restrictions to healthcare due to "pre-existing conditions" and that people can continue to receive healthcare no matter what their job is and even if they have no job at all.

I dream that America will wake up and realize that the foundation of healthcare is in basic primary care; that it will finally fix the perverse incentives that reward procedures over thought, specialists over generalists, rescue over prevention.

I dream that the proposal being made at http://www.patientsatcenter.org/petition.html comes true, and that a consistent stream of healthcare money goes towards basic primary care, maintaining wellness and preventing disease.

I dream that young and idealistic men and women will once again heed the calling to provide primary care to the people, and be financially and spiritually rewarded for their hard and caring work. That they won't be beaten down by the crying masses, long hours and endless paperwork that has been forced upon them in an misguided effort to save a few bucks on the backs of overworked primary care doctors.

I dream that mental illness will be recognized as being no different than bodily illness and that healthcare providers and patients can be given the resources necessary to treat them, and that insurance companies no longer discriminate against the people who happen to suffer from them.

I dream that the CEOs, board of directors, stockholders of health-related companies, be they insurance plans, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, medical groups, place the value of the health of their customers above that of profit and greed. 

I dream that pharmaceutical companies will price their products affordably, stop direct marketing to consumers, stop developing medications that have no significant benefit other than to maintain their profits, and stop slanting medical research to favor their products.

I dream that vitamin and nutritional supplements will finally be regulated in the same manner as prescription medications, and have to prove safety before they are allowed to be sold, as well as efficacy before they are allowed to claim that it is helpful in maintaining the health of any bodily organ. 

I dream that malpractice lawsuits are replaced by a fairer judicial system that doesn't depend on sympathy, specialists who act as "hired guns" or skilled jury selection, that utilizes consistent medical guidelines/standards and an understanding that no doctor, being human, can be flawless.

I dream that each person in American learns to take responsibility for his or her own health care, and realizes that it is what we do every day that determines our health; that taking care of our bodies with healthy foods and regular exercise; that keeping harmful habits and substances away from our bodies will do far more in keeping us healthy than any pill or medical treatment.

I dream that the American public learns to accept mortality, and that there are limits and medicine, like life, is imperfect; that death is not optional and is a necessary part of life; that heroic efforts to stave off death at any cost are costing other lives by draining limited resources.

I dream that the health of the planet we call home will be recognized as vital to the health of humanity, and that appropriate actions will take place to make our home a healthier place for all to live.

While I know most of these will not take place in my lifetime, we've got to start somewhere and that somewhere is usually in a dream. After all, MLK's dream led to the fulfillment of Mr. Obama's dream. Who knows what other dreams may come true tomorrow? 

Dream on.

Gary Seto, MD

South Pasadena, CA

Comments

[Gary Seto]

Megan and Liz,
Thanks for dreaming with me! Let's get others to dream with us, too!

-gs

[Liz Samson]

Thanks Gary for posting what I yearn for also as a family physician. Liz

[MEL]

Beautiful post, Gary. I will be working and dreaming with you, sacrificing now in hope of a brighter future for our patients and future primary care providers.

Megan Lewis, M.D.