I saw this video on social media and I couldn’t help but think that this felt like a lot of people in healthcare. Take a look and see if you know what I mean.
Find the duck 🦆 pic.twitter.com/3S9zOzdLnB
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) August 18, 2022
While some may think that this is another Fun Friday article, it’s not really a joke. In fact, it’s kind of sad really. When I watched the video, I thought of all the people in healthcare that go around making money regardless of what happens in healthcare. The payers are probably top of my list, but pharma is in there as well. They’re kind of like the duck walking around that has a totally unfair advantage.
Unfortunately, I think doctors and patients are both kind of like the blindfolded people trying to navigate the healthcare system. They’re doing their very best, but the system is kind of stacked against them.
Don’t get me wrong. Doctors do some amazing work and many patients get treatment that literally saves their lives. However, there are so many perverse incentives out there in healthcare that it feels a lot like this video to me.
A great example of this is talking to any patient who gets a chronic disease. When you talk to them their perspective on how they think healthcare should work, how their care is coordinated, and how the system really works are all totally off. The difference between their previous perception of healthcare and their real experience is shocking.
I’ve seen the same with medical students who come to realize how much of a machine healthcare is and how different it is than what they thought. It’s quite frightening when you take the blind folds off and they realize what healthcare is really like.
How do we take the blindfolds off?
The reality in this video is that even without blindfolds on, catching a duck is not easy. As a team with no blindfolds they can do it, but it still takes work. I think that’s the same with healthcare. It takes a team approach and a real understanding of the incentives. The move to value based care helps to take the blind fold off. However, that shift is still slow in coming.
What do you think of the analogy? Are there places where people in healthcare are going around blindfolded? Who are the ducks that are taking advantage of this?
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