Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Giving Thanks for What's Right With Our Health System
Those of us working to improve the health system sometimes joke that at least we'll never be out of a job, because there's always so much more that needs to be done. The magnitude of the challenges we face can seem daunting: we spend too much money to achieve often mediocre outcomes; we are under-invested in actually keeping people healthy, with many more resources focused on treating illness rather than preventing it; too many people still lack access to the care they need.
But with Thanksgiving approaching, I am also thinking about what's working in our health system, and the things we have to feel thankful about. When my relatives try to tell me over the holidays how broken our health system is (and when they rib me for not doing enough to fix it), here are three things I'll tell them we should celebrate...