Do you think we live in a healthy country?
We all have our own opinion, but most of the people asked that question have answered no. Now, opinions are great, but statistics can help us get to the bottom of things. So, let me share some statistics with you.
The United States makes up only 4.2% of the world’s population, and that 4.2% outspends the entire rest of the world on healthcare. We have the most expensive healthcare in the world, bar none. We consume over 75% of the world’s medications, and when it comes to one certain prescription, opioids, the United States is responsible for over 90% of the world’s consumption. If you look at that stat, you go, “Well, if they are spending the money on the right stuff, we must have the best results. Right?”
Dr. Barbara Starfield, a medical doctor and a public health researcher who worked at Johns Hopkins University Medical School looked at that exact question and performed a study. She wanted to measure the question, “How effective is America’s healthcare system?” And the way she did this study was that she took the top 13 industrialized nations, the richest countries in the world, the top one being the United States, and compared them in over 200 different categories. Once she obtained those numbers, she then ranked them from one to thirteen in each category, and from one to thirteen overall. She published her results in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association in July of 2000.
So, what were the results? She found the third leading cause of death in the United States was side effects from medical treatment. Out of 225,000 per year, over 106,000 of those were from the side effects of drugs that were properly prescribed. The right drug in the right dosage for the right condition and the side effects of the drug is what killed the patient.
She said that another 80,000 people who checked into a hospital, caught an infection that they did not have before they got into the hospital and that infection is what killed them. She said over 12,000 people die every year from the side effects of surgery they should not have been getting in the first place. Over 7000 people died from prescription mistakes, and another 20,000 died from other hospital errors. It is important to note that she only counted deaths in a hospital setting, not in private practice, and not in nursing homes. When she calculated all these numbers up, it came out to 225,000 deaths, which made side effects from medical care, the third leading cause of death in the United States.
If you are still reading this, then you either love statistics or you understand that America’s healthcare system is broken and has been broken for a long time. You or someone you know has probably experienced some form of medical mismanagement. Many of these issues are related to very well-meaning doctors and healthcare workers who are trapped in a system that can’t seem to get out of their own way. Greed and a lack of communication and transparency have led to poor patient care.
It must stop!
At BBC Health, we are different on purpose. We believe that great healthcare requires a team of forward-thinking medical and chiropractic providers that know how to work together to achieve the absolute best outcomes for every patient. We employ providers who listen to their patients and believe you must work just as hard to prevent disease as you do to cure it.
Our primary care providers believe in assessing the whole person and taking the most natural approach whenever possible. This means treating pain by getting to the root cause and using regenerative medicine, natural joint and trigger point injections, physical rehab, and chiropractic care to improve function and not just cover up symptoms with harsh addictive drugs such as opioids.
While our nation’s healthcare system struggles to improve, BBC Health is joining a revolution of medical clinics that believe there must be a better way.
If you would like to join the revolution and experience an integrative team approach to healthcare, contact BBC Health to schedule your appointment today!
