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Untitled Comment
Sue
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 02:30 PMre: Untitled Comment
HeartHawk
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 07:48 PMSue:
Thanks for the comment. There are several reasons why heart scanning has not been widely adopted. Some are understandable. Others are downright evil.
1. Doctors tend to be extremely conservative. They are generally unwilling to change their practice until many large and long outcome based trials are held, even if the observation is common sense.
2. It takes at least seven years to get through med school, internship and residency. They are therefore typically seven years behind the curve.
3. Medical science is advancing at a breakneck speed. Given all there is to learn and know it is somewhat unreasonable to expect docs to keep abreast of everything. But here is where the reasons begin to turn nasty. Some docs are just plain lazy! It is a lot of work to stay current.
4. Many docs and hospitals have invested heavily in the "fix" mode as opposed to the "prevent" mode. There is a great deal of money to be made in putting stents in clogged arteries. That income goes away if fewer people get that sick. Also, how are the hospital execs going to pay for all those shiny new cath labs. When you hear even young docs complain they have to "find ways to do more procedures" you begin to understand the depth of the problem - and the greed before good philosophy.
5. It takes a tremendous ego to stay effective in "life and death decision" occupations and that ego must be fed. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It can get ugly though when docs are caught up in situations where they derive their self-worth in pulling lives back from the brink of death. It is not as rewarding to devote your existence to the mundane task of keeping people healthy so they won't need death-defying performances from the docs.
The good news is we are winning. It is just very slow. At some point the insurance companies and lawyers will determine prevention is cheaper and the pace will accelerate. Check out these articles I wrote for Track Your Plaque.
Major Malpractice Class Action Lawsuit Looms for Doctors Who Ignore Heart Scans
The Bankrupting of American Healthcare: $20 Billion, Many Lives Lost Each Year
Regards,
HeartHawk
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Thanks for this important post HeartHawk. Here's a question I pose to you and the rest of the community. Why don't these Heart Scans happen as part of the normal course of diagnosis if they are considered capable of determining heart disease? Is it an insurance issue? Do some doctors do this more than others, say regionally? Or is it happening now but infrequently and patients must ask for this from their doctors?
Sounds like this is a big breakthough in determining whether you could be facing a heart attack or stroke. I say get on the bandwagon and start scanning!
All the best, sue (moderator)