The Keynote speaker at HealthCare Design 06 last November was the futurist Ian Morrison. He was a great speaker. He was funny and clever and he had a lot of information about the medical system as it is today and as it might be in the near future. The trouble was that his ideas were profoundly grim.
I was shocked that the Center for Health Design would pick a speaker who would present such depressing news. However, as a physician I knew that what he was saying was absolutely true; I kept nodding my head in agreement.
He described how we deliver unbelievable amounts of high technology on a frame that is tired, old and ineffective. Patients and doctors believe the quality of care is declining even as expenses skyrocket. 45 million Americans have no health insurance. The system seems better geared to offer MRIs than it does to offer basic preventive medical care. As a result our health suffers.
He particularly hit a nerve when he said "Primary Care Medicine is being killed in the United States." As a Family Physician I do Primary Care and I know on a personal level what he means when he says it is being killed.
Frankly, all this is rather depressing for most physicians. My friends who are doctors are not encouraging their kids to go into Medicine.
What are the implications for people involved with HealthCare Design? I don't think Ian did a very good job of going into that. Perhaps just being aware that there is deep trouble under the surface may help us be on guard.
If you want to learn more about his ideas, I'm told that Ian's book Health Care in the New Millennium is excellent.
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