Florence Nightingale No Longer Works Here

Boy, times have sure changed in the healthcare industry. Methods of healthcare access have changed right along with them.

The former icon of nursing, Florence Nightingale, has become plain old “Flo”. Her hospital job has been replaced with a part-time nutritionist gig, followed by weekend stints at a health food store or perhaps a farmer’s market. This is the new face of healthcare, and it’s every man for himself.

Access to what remains of the traditional healthcare programs has changed as well. It’s no longer just a drive to the hospital or doctor office, presentation of an insurance card, and off you go.

Healthcare consumers are caught in a swirling vortex of diminished benefits, prescription drug plans, health savings accounts, co-pay or no-pay, inefficient government safety nets, doing without healthcare altogether, and escalating costs from every angle.

The available access methods (depending on job benefits) in sliding scale order:

· Traditional insurance—HMO/PPO/Fee-For-Service plans with diminishing access and true benefit payout. The burden for finding service for low cost rests with the employer, and these plans are costing more and more for less and less service and choices.

· Flex Spending/Medical Savings Accounts—the usual replacement for traditional insurance plans. The burden is now on you for finding the best service for the lowest cost.

· Cash—pay as you go when you need it. Again, the burden rests with you to find the best service for the least money.

· Medicare—the government’s safety net for those who have no access to medical care because of income constraints. Uncle Sam has the burden of finding providers for the lowest cost, even though he sometimes gets double- and triple-billed.

· Avoidance—either just plain not going for attention, or taking things into your own hands through better nutrition, exercise, and supplementation. Now you have to be aware of labels, nutrition content, and eating habits to prevent the illnesses that drive you toward needing healthcare in the first place.

Florence hasn’t completely left the healthcare industry…she just shifted her focus. Instead of moving amongst sick people in wards and waiting rooms, she now hangs out where the healthy people are, and where the healthy people go to STAY healthy. She makes less money and has less notoriety, but her service is much more satisfying now. She has re-directed her compassion and energy toward prevention, just as the rest of the healthcare industry should do—the price of produce rises much more slowly than the price of pills.