The Customer is Always Right
It seems that doctors have confused
patients with customers. In the last 20 years opioid drug prescriptions have
risen drastically. The synthesis of strong pain relief drugs like OxyContin,
has captured the attention of many Americans. When patients feel pain, they
want it gone quick, and at the same time doctors need to maintain a certain
level of patient satisfaction--or else they risk losing their jobs. In other
words, if physicians want to keep their jobs, they better keep the customer
happy. It is clear that America is in an opioid drug abuse epidemic, but who is
at fault?
Physicians have over prescribed opioid drugs, and the reason
is clear—it is an easy solution to a big problem. Timing restraints in the
emergency room may be one problem. Physicians may not have adequate time to talk
to patients, and explore other pain reducing techniques. Another issue may be
that there are not enough pain specialists in the field for patients to be referred
to. It is estimated that there are only 3,000 to 4,000 pain specialists in the US
(BI). Finally, physicians are worried about bad ratings, if pain reducing drugs
are not administered.
“In the past, doctors were focused on reducing or
eliminating their patients’ pain as a benchmark of progress, constantly asking
patients to rate their level of pain from 1 to 10. That encouraged doctors to
use opioids, repeatedly upping the dosage to massive quantities to try to
achieve that goal. Today, specialists are focusing on increasing patients’
function, such as their ability to go to work or move physically, according to
Dr. Neel Mehta, the medical director
of pain management at Weill Cornell Medical College (BI).”
Patient comfort is one of the greatest
variables in healthcare. However, it is clear that we are running into a big
problem as a society. So how can we take a step into solving this problem? Well
for starters, there should be a more sophisticated way to analyze whether or
not a patient needs pain medication. The simple smiley face sign ranging from
no pain to excruciating pain is very subjective, and it will probably lead to
over administration of opioids. Also, we shouldn’t really need pain specialists—I
mean every physician should be adequately trained in assessing pain and
managing it, specially those working in a hospital setting. All physicians
should harbor the tools needed to make a better call when it comes to prescribing
medicine. If there other pain reducing techniques available, then all doctors
should know them!
#publicsquare
#publicsquare
3 comments:
I thought the point that you brought up about the current pain reducing technique that our health system currently provides was quite interesting. I was able to personally see what you were talking about when I visited a couple family members in the past at nearby hospitals. I agree that the system is one that is flawed, however, it would be truly hard to try and change the current method. The ability to measure someone's pain level accurately can most definitely not be done under one universal system. This reminds me of a psychological topic of measuring happiness levels in individuals. One person could say that he or she is feeling 8 on a happiness scale from 1-10; however, that same 8 might mean 6 on another person. To sum what I am trying to say, measuring emotions is truly a tricky and difficult process that may never have a perfect system. I think the only way to measure the pain people feel will be from machines that can detect it. But, that would probably be years from now.
I thought your post was quite thought provoking. I often hear about how the medical field has changed for doctors. That they are pressured to help and take care of more patients than ever before. This is in part due to the way our healthcare system is set up and understaffing of many hospitals. I wonder if this problem of doctors over prescribing opioids for pain relief is linked more to their requirement to satisfy "customers" or if it is linked to the issue of having to see too many patients. If doctors are required to bustle through a hundred patients a day, it doesn't seem hard to believe that they would have to prescribe something quick to help the patients pain. Perhaps our healthcare system should change to better accommodate our increasing population rather than shove more patients onto a dwindling number of physicians.
This is definitely something that needs to be addressed. I have heard many stand-up comedians, such as Joe Rogan, describe how ridiculous their elderly parents' medicine cabinets are. It's as if anyone over the age of 60 can automatically be prescribed heavy-duty painkillers to numb themselves rather than actually get medical treatment.
Also, it's absolutely gross how some pharmaceutical companies will go out of their way to stick it to their customers financially. Case in point: Martin Shkreli. What are we supposed to do to combat this? Our lives are literally at the mercy of these companies, and I think that only federal intervention will cause the price of medications to drop... but we all know how likely that outcome would be.
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