October 14th, 2016  | Julia Becerra

In the world of Modern Medicine: is it still East vs. West?

When people from other centuries imagined Life in XXI, did they imagine a Robot examining a patient and checking the vitals?  Or did they imagine a Doctor listening to a patient with undivided attention, and then using his/her clinical eye to figure out the reason behind the patient’s symptoms.

We don’t know. Perhaps both.  What we do know is that one of the many problems facing modern medicine is the deterioration of the patient-doctor relationship.  The human factor is scarce, perhaps buried under insurance protocols, medical computer software, lawsuit fears, federal standard instructions and lack of diagnostic training.

Fifty or more years ago medical students were trained in the field of clinical medical diagnostics, making emphasis in patient symptoms, signs, observation and physical examination. As western medicine evolved and lawsuits abounded, the emphasis moved to the teaching of the use of lab tests for primary diagnosis. Today the medical diagnosis is a laboratory diagnosis that relies not as much in the human reading of a lab test result but on the availability and reliability of the medical software that carries out the task.

The primary doctor becomes a clerk. When the patient arrives to the doctor’s office (After spending initial time with the P.A.), the physician spends his/her time in front of a computer, typing in some of the information given by the patient;  dodging thru the check-boxes and reminders brought up by  the computer program. The information collected is needed mostly as a managing tool for billing compliance  than for the diagnosis of the illness affecting the patient.

The physician role is then to push the patient to start a medication (“preferred” or suggested by a Pharmaceutical company in exchange for a rewarding bonus) or to order or not to order a test that the computer program suggests. In addition to that, the physician is forced to select a diagnosis code BEFORE making any clinical decision, this to comply with insurance billing and to complete the population data-collection.  This forceful mechanism takes away the medical diagnosis practice per se.

This procedure does not result in higher quality care and it is hurting patients everywhere.

On a visit to a medical center a few months ago, I was surprised when the physician relied in Google to answer an inquiry my friend (the patient) had regarding a blood test result. The Physician typed in different keywords until he found an answer he liked; then he proceeded to read out loud the findings  from the computer screen.

My friend and I were both disappointed with the outcome.  We had done the same Google inquiry before going to the medical appointment; we were hoping for medical guidance!  The physician never left the keyboard, and although my friend was complaining of stomach pain, no examination was performed.  The computer spit out the prescription along with another set of lab tests my friend was to get done and the consultation was over.

As much as it is true that in modern medicine we can get wonderful things done like heart transplants, kidney transplants, etc., and other life saving procedures, I believe that for preventive medicine and non-life threaten emergencies, eastern medicine is still ahead in the practice of medicine as a subtle art, as a real interaction and connect between medical professionals and patients. My primary care physician is my acupuncturist, Grace Jao. (newconceptwellness.com ).  She acts as a steward of the medical profession. She acts with humanity towards people and indeed pays undivided attention to her patients; perhaps that is why her diagnoses are 99% correct. She is a good representative of the Eastern medicine practice.

On a standard medical office the consultation is narrowed down to the physician typing in the patient’s symptoms , ordering the test that the computer indicate , and/or  prescribing the medicines the computer software deem necessary (with the one-size fits all try and error approach).

On an eastern medicine medical consultation, the patient is actually examined, evaluated, and in addition to the acupuncture treatment or other medicine treatment given, a diet and nutritional recommendation is given as deemed appropriate.  The focus is not only in addressing the current illness but in preventing any other health imbalances.  This sounds more like the good old medicine that my parents use to tell me about.  The Doctors were engaged in making sure the patients stay healthy, they were interested in establishing a long lasting healthy relationship.

Today even doctors themselves feel the humanity draining from the same medical profession they were drawn to by the desire to interact, connect and take care of people.

Is Google the next best Physician? Are we that close of testing ourselves in the comfort of our houses and be diagnosed by Amazon Echo or Google HOME ?  skipping the clerical doctor appointment?

Or perhaps, we should just tell Echo about our circumstances and Echo will either make an acupuncture appointment for us or call the ambulance!  Probably more in line to what people imagined medicine would look like in the XXI century.

How could we improve medical software while also enhancing and facilitating the connection between patients and physicians?  How to adapt new technologies while still training our doctors to be real physicians?

I would love to hear your suggestions/comments on the subject.

Thank for reading my blog.

 

Remember to follow me on twitter @jbradiant