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Innnovation in Medicine

By on August 27, 2012

There is increasing talk about innovation in Medicine, especially by reformers. No one is against innovation. Look at all the recent advances in therapeutics, diagnostics and interventional treatment that have brought so much relief to patients in recent years.

But there is more beyond the obvious.

Innovation can mean something as simple as a better system for tracking patients with serious chronic diseases, so doctors can stay on top of them before they end up in the Emergency Room. It can mean a better charting system for nurses, better cross-checking for pharmacists committed to cutting medication errors. It can mean better waiting room furniture that doesn’t harbor bacteria between patient visits, or new exercises designed to reduce patient falls.

Reformers are counting on a lot of innovation in the years ahead to help control skyrocketing medical costs. Is this achievable?

William McKissick, the creator of the Iron Triangle of Health Policy worried that if we did not reform our system, given its exaggerated share of the GDP, we would become a healthy but unintelligent group of people because we would sacrifice education to health. We are on our way, if you are listening to the current political debate.

It is hard to be innovative in medicine when regulators expect professionals to spend so much time crossing their t’s and dotting their i’s. Medical providers are weighted down with do’s and don’ts. Penalties can be severe. Patients expect it. But these same professionals must be able to think outside the box at the same time they are being placed in it. Further progress demands it.

More on this to follow.

Tom Godfrey

About Tom Godfrey

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