Does Anybody Really Care?
Ever since I lost my brother to a misdiagnosis, I’ve spent the last 12 years trying to prevent the same from happening to other families.
That included five and a half years at Stanford and Harvard trying to better understand why mistakes happen in the first place. There are many reasons. Plenty of blame to go around.
This article will not rehash all the inherent problems and misincentives in medicine that cause mistakes. Instead, it will focus on why no one sems to care.
Let’s generate a list of who you would think would be concerned.
- Doctors
- Hospitals
- The government
- Payers (insurers)
- Malpractice Insurers
- Patient advocacy organizations
- Academic researchers
- Orginizations focused on preventing diagnostic errors
- Patients
Well, I’ve spoke to several in each category and they are not.
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I speculate that there are several reasons.
First, let’s consider the usual. Money. Misdiagnosis is a big business, by some estimates, a trillion dollar business. If it was eliminated, that money would come out of the pockets of doctors, hospitals, pharma, equipment companies, and the US economy. It would be the end of malpractice, the need for insurance, and the companies that issue the policies.
Second, no one cares until it hits home. This has been described as “unrealistic optimism,” which means we think its not going to happen to us.
Third, prevention has never really caught on in the US for health care. Yes, for cars and air-conditioners, but not for your health.
Fourth, people would rather spend money for the illusion of longevity that to catch disease earlier. The marketing is working.
Finally, the patient advocacy groups and other related organizations would have nothing to advocate for if the problem was eliminated.
What about patients, you might ask? Why are they not rallying their legislators? Simple. They trust their doctors to do their best and likewise, still don’t trust AI. So what is there to really do? Particualrly, when pundits are arguing that AI will destroy us. Quite the paradox to demand for it to save us.
This will change. Like many other paradign shifts, e.g., bottled water, paid TV, its day will come. I just hope in time to save you or someone you love.
