Latest / Doctor Turned Health Coach / Why My View of Healthcare Changed Over Time

Transcript

Why My View of Healthcare Changed Over Time · Doctor Turned Health Coach

• 0:22
  Most Americans probably are accustomed to going to their primary care doctor
• 0:27
  every year and getting some blood tests done.
• 0:30
  Then they wait and they go and get more blood tests done.
• 0:34
  Maybe some screening tests like pap smears and prostate exams and mammograms.
• 0:39
  I want to actually get you to think about health care in a different way.
• 0:45
  Healthcare is the concept of using technology to help us improve our overall health.
• 0:53
  So, of course, the biggest bang for the buck that we've gotten from the healthcare
• 0:58
  system is the public health system, where we have good sanitation.
• 1:03
  Relative safety, environmental toxins have been minimized, and we have better
• 1:09
  access to overall safe environments, for the most part.
• 1:13
  And then we have vaccinations and prevention strategies.
• 1:16
  All of that is probably, all of that has driven up overall health expectancy,
• 1:22
  quality of life and everything.
• 1:24
  But healthcare is not, you can't just assume healthcare will save you or healthcare
• 1:31
  is going to take good care of your health. It's just not the way it works.
• 1:34
  Healthcare is a concept, is an entity, and you have to learn it.
• 1:38
  You have to know how to use this tool to help you improve your overall health.
• 1:42
  The one thing about healthcare that a
• 1:45
  lot of people dislike is that it is a business it is
• 1:48
  not some philanthropic mission
• 1:52
  to help you be better feel
• 1:55
  better and everything no no healthcare is a completely profit-driven entity
• 2:00
  that is owned and operated by for-profit businesses that doesn't mean that they're
• 2:06
  not trying to get you to feel better there's fantastic results that we've gotten to enjoy from.
• 2:13
  The healthcare system. For example, if you have a severe infection,
• 2:16
  sepsis, if you're hit by a truck, if you have a treatable cancer,
• 2:20
  you can expect to have a really good quality of life by getting the right treatment on time.
• 2:27
  That is the key, getting the right treatment on time.
• 2:31
  And one better way, I think, to approach healthcare is to use it in an informed
• 2:38
  way to know what is your actual risk for anything.
• 2:42
  For example, if you're a smoker, you know that you could get lung cancer.
• 2:46
  If you have a strong family history of breast cancer, you could assume that
• 2:49
  maybe you would be at risk for breast cancer.
• 2:51
  And if you are experiencing a lot of obesity, you might be at risk for diabetes
• 2:57
  and other medical conditions like sleep apnea.
• 3:01
  That is the best way to use healthcare because now you know exactly what you're at risk for.
• 3:06
  And then you can devise a plan to help decrease that risk now sometimes the
• 3:11
  obvious thing would be if there's obesity you lose the weight if there is,
• 3:16
  high breast cancer risk you try to get not only a mammogram but also an mri
• 3:21
  and ultrasound of the breasts to really stay on top of that risk and if there
• 3:26
  is any early signs you can.
• 3:30
  Get a surgery or get a treatment and totally minimize your risk.
• 3:34
  And that's absolutely an incredible part of the healthcare system.
• 3:38
  But this other way, which is how most people are engaging with the healthcare
• 3:43
  system, this passive way of just going and showing up and letting somebody else
• 3:48
  tell you what health is and what tests you should get,
• 3:53
  it's only going to backfire, right?
• 3:55
  The same way you would never go to an attorney or a mechanic and just say,
• 3:58
  hey, here's my car here's my legal case
• 4:01
  you tell me what to do no no no you're proactive you
• 4:05
  ask the right questions you push back you uh you
• 4:08
  want to be informed you want to get second opinions
• 4:11
  all of that is an important part of being an active engaged uh person in your
• 4:18
  health care journey with agency and the feeling of empowerment and that's only
• 4:23
  going to come by having a level of health literacy that is close to your physicians.
• 4:30
  A lot of people think that, oh, the reason physicians are so good is because
• 4:33
  they have all this knowledge in their head. That's actually probably the smallest part.
• 4:37
  They're really good at thinking about a complex problem,
• 4:42
  collecting all the right and necessary data to make the next best decision while
• 4:48
  balancing out the harm of a certain intervention and the benefit of some other strategy.
• 4:54
  That thinking is what is the most, what makes doctors very effective.
• 4:59
  It's not giving you a diagnosis. It's not some knowledge that they have that's hidden.
• 5:05
  No, I mean, especially in this day and age, that knowledge is ubiquitous.
• 5:08
  You can go on any LLM AI software and you can have that information for free.
• 5:14
  I hope that this concept, this idea is of value to you.
• 5:18
  And I know it can be a little bit, maybe it wasn't as direct as I wanted it
• 5:22
  to be, but I think that would have made for a much longer podcast episode.
• 5:27
  Instead, I want you to just have a plan.
• 5:30
  Have a plan. How are you going to utilize your healthcare resources to achieve
• 5:36
  the best health for yourself overall?
• 5:38
  If your goal is to wait for something to happen and then get a medication for
• 5:43
  it and have a surgery for it and end up in the hospital, that is fine.
• 5:46
  I would never dismiss that as an option. I just don't think it's the best strategy
• 5:50
  and it doesn't always give you the best results.