I also am devastated to know how hopeless you feel about the ongoing war in Ukraine. I've never lived in a country beset by war as you are experiencing, and can believe that sense of powerlessness is a nearly intolerable burden to carry.
I personally have managed to keep hope and optimism alive in my heart and mind, even faced with situations that seem intractable like our American healthcare morass. In a small but real way, my nurturing such a positive heartset & mindset is one option always available to me as an individual to try and influence large & complex situations.
Please know that the world stands with Ukraine in its justified fight against tyranny and oppression — and knowing how creative you are, I'm sure you'll find ways to exercise your power and nurture your hope, no matter how slight an impact you might feel it makes given the present crisis. Meanwhile: sending light to you & yours!
Hi Lizz, great article, I worked in med devices too, for 20 years in rapid diagnostics at Inverness Medical, Alere, and Abbott. We partnered with St. Jude on a PT/INR coagulation home testing program many years ago. Like you I am now consulting (plus doing some other things). Nice to encounter another industry vet!
I do agree "Medicare for All" is probably the best approach to solve our misaligned system. I believe Bernie Sanders was pushing for some variant of this. But I think it will be tough to convince all the necessary players to agree, as someone will likely lose a lot of money switching to this system.
The will to change is definitely there on the general public side, as evidenced by the wide public support for Luigi and the anger vs UHC that has surfaced. Part of me wonders if we could convince the general public to do their part to be healthier, fewer people would need to use the system, and costs could come down to a point where payers might be willing to adopt Australia's system, as it would no longer be as profitable to do "sick people insurance". One can dream :) I see promising signs of change, for example people are becoming more aware of all the junk chemicals in our food, and maybe RFK will help address that, but we still have a long way to go for Americans to be considered healthy en masse.
Dave, Thanks for reading and engaging so thoughtfully! And how lovely to know of the commonalities in our backgrounds. (Side note: I read your life review post and in scanning your calendar I noticed "Wheaton" on there, which if it's in Illinois may be the town I grew up in! What's your connection to Wheaton, may I ask?)
It will certainly be tough to convince all the necessary players to transform the healthcare industry, which is why I believe it will need to come from a concerted grassroots pressure enacting change via the federal government — and also of course it has to galvanized through a federal effort for Medicare for All to be expanded to a universal plan as the primary first step.
I appreciate your point about how this movement can be galvanized through the general public, and what a bad place America is in wrt population health factors. However here, rather than taking the top-down, "thou shalt do X" type of attitude that RFK Jr espouses, I believe we have many pieces of evidence that people ARE aware of their need for greater health and wellness. I see this playing out principally in people's existing and growing engagement with modalities and approaches typically lumped under the "alternative health" sector. This sector is a 6.3 trillion dollar part of the American healthcare ecosystem that's _entirely_ self-driven, as people are actively seeking solutions to their health issues or looking to improve their level of wellness. This whole sector, and its continual upward growth trajectory, shows me that people are beyond ready to try and feel better. The sector encompasses a wide range of practices, of course, from the clinically-proven to the quite-questionable, yet I can envision our harnessing these modalities alongside allopathic medicine to create a whole new kind of healthcare system that meets people where they are and offers much greater choice to those seeking healthful solutions!
Hi Lizz, I grew up in Glen Ellyn! Moved to Wheaton for a couple years after college, that's the "Wheaton" in my calendar! Well we have even more in common! Would you be up for a meet and greet call? Would be fun to compare life notes :) Let me know and we can switch to private chat on here.
Regarding healthcare, I do think the groundswell grassroots approach will be essential for change. Clearly many people have opted out of traditional medicine (at least until they have an issue they can't treat at home), and in places like California the alternative health scene is huge, but many other states do not share its enthusiasm or have the local healthier food supply to support it.
One major issue to overcome is the fractured nature of the public's unhappiness with our system, as you alluded to. Some pursue alternative medicines. Some promote exercise. Others diet. Others anger with health insurance. Others using AI. On and on. As a brand guy part of me thinks we need some kind of countrywide movement with essential components that everyone can sort of get behind. From time to time you see things like this happen e.g. what's healthcare's equivalent of "MeToo". Easier to imagine than to execute though!
This is a fantastic piece! Very well written and makes a strong argument--thank you for your thoughtful insights!
Thanks for the vote of support! Now how do we best get this off the ground…? 🤔
Hi Lizz!
It's nice to read your thoughts, clearly formulated.
I hope that you will be able to influence the course of events. I wish you good luck in this difficult task.
Hi Ruslan, Thank you for your supportive comment.
I also am devastated to know how hopeless you feel about the ongoing war in Ukraine. I've never lived in a country beset by war as you are experiencing, and can believe that sense of powerlessness is a nearly intolerable burden to carry.
I personally have managed to keep hope and optimism alive in my heart and mind, even faced with situations that seem intractable like our American healthcare morass. In a small but real way, my nurturing such a positive heartset & mindset is one option always available to me as an individual to try and influence large & complex situations.
Please know that the world stands with Ukraine in its justified fight against tyranny and oppression — and knowing how creative you are, I'm sure you'll find ways to exercise your power and nurture your hope, no matter how slight an impact you might feel it makes given the present crisis. Meanwhile: sending light to you & yours!
Hi Lizz, great article, I worked in med devices too, for 20 years in rapid diagnostics at Inverness Medical, Alere, and Abbott. We partnered with St. Jude on a PT/INR coagulation home testing program many years ago. Like you I am now consulting (plus doing some other things). Nice to encounter another industry vet!
I do agree "Medicare for All" is probably the best approach to solve our misaligned system. I believe Bernie Sanders was pushing for some variant of this. But I think it will be tough to convince all the necessary players to agree, as someone will likely lose a lot of money switching to this system.
The will to change is definitely there on the general public side, as evidenced by the wide public support for Luigi and the anger vs UHC that has surfaced. Part of me wonders if we could convince the general public to do their part to be healthier, fewer people would need to use the system, and costs could come down to a point where payers might be willing to adopt Australia's system, as it would no longer be as profitable to do "sick people insurance". One can dream :) I see promising signs of change, for example people are becoming more aware of all the junk chemicals in our food, and maybe RFK will help address that, but we still have a long way to go for Americans to be considered healthy en masse.
Dave, Thanks for reading and engaging so thoughtfully! And how lovely to know of the commonalities in our backgrounds. (Side note: I read your life review post and in scanning your calendar I noticed "Wheaton" on there, which if it's in Illinois may be the town I grew up in! What's your connection to Wheaton, may I ask?)
It will certainly be tough to convince all the necessary players to transform the healthcare industry, which is why I believe it will need to come from a concerted grassroots pressure enacting change via the federal government — and also of course it has to galvanized through a federal effort for Medicare for All to be expanded to a universal plan as the primary first step.
I appreciate your point about how this movement can be galvanized through the general public, and what a bad place America is in wrt population health factors. However here, rather than taking the top-down, "thou shalt do X" type of attitude that RFK Jr espouses, I believe we have many pieces of evidence that people ARE aware of their need for greater health and wellness. I see this playing out principally in people's existing and growing engagement with modalities and approaches typically lumped under the "alternative health" sector. This sector is a 6.3 trillion dollar part of the American healthcare ecosystem that's _entirely_ self-driven, as people are actively seeking solutions to their health issues or looking to improve their level of wellness. This whole sector, and its continual upward growth trajectory, shows me that people are beyond ready to try and feel better. The sector encompasses a wide range of practices, of course, from the clinically-proven to the quite-questionable, yet I can envision our harnessing these modalities alongside allopathic medicine to create a whole new kind of healthcare system that meets people where they are and offers much greater choice to those seeking healthful solutions!
Hi Lizz, I grew up in Glen Ellyn! Moved to Wheaton for a couple years after college, that's the "Wheaton" in my calendar! Well we have even more in common! Would you be up for a meet and greet call? Would be fun to compare life notes :) Let me know and we can switch to private chat on here.
Regarding healthcare, I do think the groundswell grassroots approach will be essential for change. Clearly many people have opted out of traditional medicine (at least until they have an issue they can't treat at home), and in places like California the alternative health scene is huge, but many other states do not share its enthusiasm or have the local healthier food supply to support it.
One major issue to overcome is the fractured nature of the public's unhappiness with our system, as you alluded to. Some pursue alternative medicines. Some promote exercise. Others diet. Others anger with health insurance. Others using AI. On and on. As a brand guy part of me thinks we need some kind of countrywide movement with essential components that everyone can sort of get behind. From time to time you see things like this happen e.g. what's healthcare's equivalent of "MeToo". Easier to imagine than to execute though!
Very cool, Dave, I'll follow up with you in a private chat!