Hey guys and welcome back to the Medical Entrepreneur podcast.
My name is Adam Sewell, and this is where we teach you how to break free from traditional medicine, carve the career of your dreams, and still do what you love.
If you are familiar with the Medical Entrepreneur podcast, you have probably noticed that I talk a lot about the state of our healthcare system. This is because I firmly believe that healthcare professionals are better off working independently than under a system that is in so many ways broken. Today, I will elaborate on this issue. I will explain why I believe that our healthcare system is broken and how this affects both healthcare workers and patients.
From a Healthcare Worker’s Point of View
On one side of the broken healthcare system, we have overworked and underpaid healthcare workers, who experience all of its shortcomings daily.
Working in a hospital often, if not always, means giving up on all of your autonomy. You can’t set your schedule, you have to follow a very rigid process and deal with a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy. Too often you can’t treat patients the way you want to and the number of appointments makes it hard to give adequate attention and care to everyone.
The situation is only getting worse due to increasing staff shortages, and the workers who are staying in hospitals are getting more burnt out by the day. Their pay, however, isn’t reflecting the growing amount of work.
In addition to the problems in medical institutions, health professionals in the mainstream healthcare system also face problems with insurance companies. Insurance companies often refuse treatment prescribed by professionals, making it impossible for them to do their job.
From a Patient’s Perspective
On the other side of the broken healthcare system, we have patients who aren’t receiving the care and attention they need.
The problems patients face are almost always a direct consequence of the problems mentioned above. Lack of accessible care, high costs of treatments, low quality of care, and long waiting lists are all caused by greedy insurance companies and understaffed hospitals. And as we know all too well today, the lack of affordable healthcare affects not only the physical but also the mental health of our nation.
Not having access to the healthcare you need is stressful and overwhelming enough in itself. Having to also deal with insurance companies that show zero compassion only makes things worse. Unfortunately, this can lead to a lot of anxiety, worry, and frustration. This extra layer of stress associated with receiving healthcare often results in more mental and physical health problems.
So one could argue that our healthcare system isn’t just failing at healing people, but is actively making them sick.
The Major Problems of our Healthcare System and How to Escape it
If the pandemic made one thing undeniably clear, it’s that our healthcare system is facing major problems. On one side of it, we have severely burnt-out healthcare workers, and on the other, we have mistreated patients without access to quality healthcare.
Solving these problems will be a very hard job and it will take years if not decades. So what can we do in the meantime?
One thing I always advise healthcare professionals is to escape the broken mainstream medical system. Workers can turn to medical entrepreneurship by opening their medical businesses and working under their own rules. The result is usually a much higher quality of care and, consequently, greater patient satisfaction.
If you are looking for advice on starting your own medical business, listen to my podcast.
My Interview with Kevin Pho, MD
If you want to dive deeper into our healthcare system and clinician burnout, listen to the latest episode of the Medical Entrepreneur podcast where I interview the amazing Kevin Pho, MD.
Kevin is a practicing internal medicine physician, amazing keynote speaker, and co-author of the book Establishing, Managing, and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices.
He gained a huge social media following by sharing the stories of physicians, practitioners, nurses, students, and patients on his platform KevinMD. If there is anyone with valuable insights into the problems of our healthcare system, it’s him. So make sure to check it out!
I hope this blog was valuable to you. If you think you’re ready to start your own journey as a medical entrepreneur, make sure to follow us on social media and subscribe so you never miss an episode!
Additional resources:
– Join my challenge here!
– Check out my website here!
– Sign up for our Aesthetics training here!
Medical Entrepreneur is a podcast dedicated to those who are trying to escape mainstream medicine and start building the healthcare business of their dreams.
Subscribe on YouTube or follow us on your favorite podcast platform!