Aspirational Healthcare

I went to see my doctor last week, and after arriving 15 minutes early as instructed, completing forms I have penned a dozen times before, then waiting 30 minutes past my allotted appointment time, we had a chat. He looked over my numbers and concluded, “I want you to lose 10 pounds.”

That was it. Meeting over. Pay at the door. Come back in six months.

There was no counseling on how to lose the weight. No connection to a nutritionist or someone who might help manage an exercise program. Not even a flyer of dos and don’t’s to guide me in my weight loss. 

Harumph.

That’s when I realized that my doc, like most healthcare practitioners in America, can help me when I am sick. But he doesn’t really do anything to keep me from getting ill. Oh, he feigns some minor interest in preventive medicine, but the fact is if he prevented me from getting sick in the first place, he’d be cutting into his own business. What incentive does he have to help me lose that extra 10 pounds?

Toward a healthier future

Isn’t it time we change healthcare delivery in America? Shouldn’t we be focusing our healthcare delivery services to prevent illness instead of just treating the sick? Most people would say YES to these queries, but are uncertain what to do about them. I’m happy to report a movement afoot that focuses on this long-standing, and fundamental problem. Smith Communication Partners is sponsoring the Aspirational Healthcare Conference, to be held July 14 and 15. The virtual conference brings thought leaders, executives and healthcare professionals together to discuss changes to healthcare delivery in the U.S. to lower costs and improve outcomes. The conference focuses on preventive care concepts versus our current structure of reactive healthcare services.

The Aspirational Healthcare Conference is the brainchild of Darrell Moon, CEO of the national wellness firm Orriant Health. Before launching his wellness company, Darrell spent part of his career running a healthcare system that included several hospitals. During that experience he came to the realization that the healthcare system in America needs a major overhaul. He points out that healthcare services are built for the providers to provide but have almost no focus on the customer. He and other similar leaders want to switch healthcare to be preventive focused and built based on the needs and wants of the customers in the community.

Darrell has assembled national healthcare leaders, company leaders, heads of major consulting and brokerage firms, and professionals dedicated to the idea of preventive care to present at the conference this year. One of the presenters is April Kyle, the CEO of the Nuka System of Care in Alaska, generally regarded as the best example of healthcare delivery in the world by providing better results at a lower cost than any other system. The Nuka group has twice received the President’s Malcolm Baldrige Award for Quality.

I hope you can attend and join the drive to change healthcare in our country to focus on ways to prevent illness instead of just treating the disease.

You can register for the event with the code !SMITHCP$. I’ll see you there – 10 pounds lighter, no doubt.