We’ve all heard about the problems. Medicine has turned into a hugely overpriced and gargantuan technological juggernaut that is both hard to ride and can run us over if we’re not careful. Most of us know stories of those who have been bankrupted by health care. Most of us doctors know that many things are wrong, but then shrug our shoulders with observations like “it’s just the way things are.” The good things that medicine does are so peppered with the problems of service delivery and high cost that many people justifiably want massive health care reform, but don’t know quite what to do to get it.
Even when solutions are suggested, these are about “changing the system,” often by making the already existing one more efficient — using efficient scheduling and electronic records to streamline “patient flow.” Or they are about making the existing system more accessible by offering plans for universal access. Then the arguments erupt over resources — who pays, who gets paid how much, who gets how much care? — and we get the kind of Frankensystem offerings that have arisen from our conflicted political leaders. In the meantime, exhortations to speed everything up continue: for example, more and faster research and development of new treatments, technology and drugs; making doctors work faster and by standard algorithms; and shortening hospital stays by rushing people home.
Two basic things seem to be assumed as we flounder with the problems of our health care systems. One is that more and faster is always going to be better. The other is that systems and experts are the road to reform. Forgotten are the importance of balance, and of the crucial roles of ordinary people and their choices. The upcoming new column, Slow Medicine, is offered by The Spy to the public as a way of injecting a little balance (“slow” balances “fast medicine”) and giving tools for individuals to reform their health care. Maybe it is out of what we all might choose in our own care, to the extent that we can, that real reform and real systemic change can arise.
To help with this project, the hope is to find good stories that illustrate what might happen for any of us, “fast” or “slow.” Someday, readers may find themselves in the story themselves. At that point, they may have something more real than an expert on which to rely.
[Ladd Bauer MD is a general physician and advocate of Slow Medicine.]
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.