Right Care - Right Practitioner - Right Place

Dr. Mark Taylor, deputy head for the Department of Surgery at the University of Manitoba, made some very interesting statements in his commentary (Huge amount can be done to fix health care) published March 6th in the Winnipeg Free Press. The entire article can be viewed by clicking here.

One comment made by Dr. Taylor that's sure to raise eyebrows in the medical community..."Our health care system has largely evolved for the best interest of the practitioners". It's hard to deny that many of the road blocks placed in the way of change within our health system are a result of "protectionist attitudes" that have existed in the health care community forever. Although there seems to be more acceptance within professional realms to share responsibilities and scopes of practice, it's still too often an uphill battle when looking at ways to better utilize various health practitioners in non-traditional roles.

And in part it's this reluctance to think outside of the traditional medical model that stands in the way of doing what Dr. Taylor rightly suggests needs to be done if we want to address many of our health care woes. He goes on in his commentary to say "We need to reorganize our systems of care provision to ensure the patient gets the right care by the right practitioner in the right place".

More emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring patients entering our health care system, especially many of those currently seen in over-crowded hospital emergency rooms, are directed to more appropriate health facilities and treatment options whenever suitable. We can't continue to believe we can "buy our way out" of the increasing strain placed on our current health care system by throwing money in the form of bonuses or incentives at our practitioners. A seniors population that has doubled in the past 20 years is forecast to double again in the next 15. Hospitals and emergency rooms are no longer viable in every community. Urgent care and community facilities need to better utilize alternative existing health care options, including nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, therapists and paramedics. As Dr. Taylor suggests, there are ways to fix our health care system. It's time our community leaders, politicians and health administrators stopped fear-mongering whenever change in health care delivery is contemplated.