The Future of Home-Centered Healthcare

Dr. Mike Magee has a very interesting podcast called "Health Politics." In it, he expounds on his personal ideas about where Western medicine is heading, and how we should try to shape its future.

Dr. Magee is firmly planted in the Western medical model, however, he does have some interesting ideas that perfectly dovetail with alternative medicine (although I don't know if he knows that!).

Please give a listen to his podcasts. Subscribe to them in iTunes (a free download from Apple) or listen to them on Dr. Magee's Website.

Of most interest, I think are the following episodes:

• Will Academic Medical Centers Survive?"


• Who Will Own Tomorrow's CME?"


• The Emergence of Home-Centered Health - Parts 1 and 2

Here are some of the things Dr. Magee says:

Medicine has evolved from paternalism to partnership.

• The Internet gives medical consumers unimpeded information flow.


• We are moving toward a home-center healthcare model.


• The home is where patient education, behavioral modification, early diagnosis, therapeutic adherence, nutrition, fitness, wellness and prevention all reside.


• We need to focus on educating home care-givers, and supporting them with information and services.


• Academic medical centers, as they exist today, do not fit into this model (yet). They are awkwardly trying to adapt.


• The problems with academic medical centers are related to their size: incomplete reimbursement for the cost of residency education, competition from community hospitals, multi-step decision processes, an overtired workforce, and excessive complexity.


• These institutions must become leaders in giving information to patients.
  

Dr. Magee's assessments of the current state of medicine are often quite insightful. I really like this podcast. Please beware of two things before you subscribe to his podcasts.

Dr. Magee reads all his remarks word-by-word, for this reason his delivery can be quite dull. Do not expect even a moment of humor from Dr. Magee - uh uh.

Also, the guy who does the intro and outro is super-duper annoying. It is a taped thing that is the same everytime, and the guy just has the worst possible voice. This announcer-guy tries to make his words sound "fun" or "gay" or something, but he ends up just sounding weird.

Having said that, go have a listen. The information will stand out enough that you'll be able to live through the poor delivery and sound quality.

Hopefully my podcast ends up being a little better! (Gulp!)