Why the healthcare industry isn't innovating

June 26, 8:56 AMDenver Low Carb ExaminerLinda Duffy

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 Many of us are very baffled by dietary recommendations from the government over the last 30 years. While their intent may have been to reduce health care costs and make American's healthier, the effect has been rampant obesity, cancer, increased levels in type 2 diabetes, and more people developing heart disease. As evidence piles up that recommendations to eat vegetable oils instead of saturated fat and eat more carbohydrates and fruit is causing these problems, the medical profession does not appear motivated to change their tune. This completely defies logic.

This post from a tech company about medical records calls in to question even that original intent and shows that it does make sense after all if you really understand the true purpose...

"Lots of other businesses with tons of paper records long ago realized that moving to electronic records and making things more efficient wasn't just a fantastic way to make money, but a way to expand their own market. The switch from paper stock certificates to electronic ones didn't just save printing costs -- it enabled the stock market to change in a massive way (perhaps too much, many will note).

Andy Kessler, who's been thinking an awful lot about these issues (and whose book The End of Medicine hasn't received nearly the attention it deserves) has an interesting article discussing why the industry has resisted the move to e-healthcare records. While it would save some money, he notes, it would also expose the entire scam of the healthcare system: which is that they make a ton of money from inefficiencies baked into the system, which are totally hidden from view. It's a massive boondoggle for the industry, and e-healthcare records would actually make it easier for people to understand that the healthcare system profits from people being sick and not from having them be well.

The incentives are totally screwed up for everyone.

Healthcare providers make more money the sicker you are. Pharmaceutical companies make easy money with gov't monopolies limiting the ability to spread useful drugs. The actual costs are nearly totally hidden from most consumers, so they don't make smart choices at all." (more)

From the original Kessler article referenced by Techdirt...

"In those medical records lie the ugly truth about the business of medicine: sickness is profitable. The greater the number of treatments, procedures, and hospital stays, the larger the profit. There is little incentive for doctors and hospitals to identify or reduce wasteful spending in medicine."

This explains resistance to going back to a more evolutionary based diet. The truth is that well people are not profitable. People with chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, gout, cancer, heart disease, and obesity are in constant need of appointments, test, and medications. They are worth millions. A doctor who tells a patient to limit refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars is literally giving money away. While there are some doctors who would rejoice if their services were no longer needed because people became exceedingly healthy, I think these individuals are few and far between. Keeping you just a little bit sick has been providing a nice income to too many others for years.