The simple reason the medical-home study failed…

This week, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a comprehensive study that has major health implications. Major because the negative findings should change how Americans think about health and healthcare. Plus, the findings validate a belief this doctor holds as truth. First my belief, then the study. One blog is enough for any practicing doctor, but if I were to start another, its name would be: “Health cometh not from healthcare.” Nary a day goes by that I don’t see an example of how good-intentioned active management of a patient causes problems. (BTW: My son, a grammar prescriptivist, says I shouldn’t use that word, nary.) Emergency rooms overflow with elderly patients who have fallen because of BP goals. Last week, I saw a patient admitted (for confusion) with dangerously low sodium levels because of high BP treatment. It’s the same story with aggressive blood sugar control, statins in the elderly, NSAIDs, and we have already discussed the limits of screening for disease. The good-intentioned-but-harmful-treatment list is a long one. The success of managing chronic disease does not turn on doctors or nurses. It turns on the patient and his or her choices. One of the wisest doctors in my hospital once gave me unforgettable advice: he said doctors don’t control outcomes. The JAMA study:  Health policy experts believed that active management of patients with chronic disease would lead to better outco...
Source: Dr John M - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: blogs