Understanding healthcare from the patient's point of view – Why it matters

If you get your news from the Globe and Mail, you may have come across a relevant opinion piece by Andre Picard about how the Canadian healthcare system could benefit from some common sense-infused changes.

We have it good, many say and while that is true to a certain extent, more is needed in order to make the healthcare system more cost-effective, efficient and able to ensure better care for patients.

One of the author’s main points was that the system could use more action, rather than innovation, in order to improve. That would be making it routine that care is routinely delivered not by single doctor or health practitioner but a team.

Our own response to that is a resounding yes. One of the visions Maxfit Institute founders started out with was team-delivered care and the reason is rather straightforward. The human body is a complex system made of many interrelated system that depend on each other for optimal functioning.

Attempting to treat but a symptom that is merely an expression of something that is out of balance in one system leaves the problem ultimately poorly addressed. When a team with practitioners of different specialties are tackling one symptom, the patient is seen as more than an isolated health problem. They look at what could have caused the symptom, how it affects other systems and whether there is more than an underlying manifestation of imbalance that is less visible during a routine consultation.

Another point the author brought fourth was treating people in their own community. We could not agree more. The stress of being sent places when stress needs to be minimized is considerable. While a healthcare establishment can only have that many practitioners (space constraints, availability of practitioners, etc) collaboration with nearby establishments can work wonders in providing much needed care while still maintaining the team work philosophy.

Ultimately, a well-thought collaboration between doctors and other health practitioners could provide multiple benefits to patients and healthcare professionals as well. Team work at that level could mean that patients could be given a complex diagnostic that will lead to more adequate treatment requiring, in many cases, less medication and rather a more proactive, holistic approach to healing.

The coordinated team approach is something Maxfit practitioners take great pride in. They understand that the last thing patients need is navigating through a disconnected system by themselves when health imbalances and chronic affections have made them vulnerable already. How did that come to be? Simple. By listening to feedback and including it in the improvement plans down the road, because truth is, everything becomes better when all sides involved voice their opinion.

Please feel free to share your thoughts using the comments area below. Thank you.