The Healthcare System's Broken, can it Be Fixed.
The rising cost of the U.S. healthcare system is a major concern because it is unsustainable.
The U.S. healthcare spending reach $4.5 trillion in 2022—17.3% of the nation’s GDP—and continue to grow. Key drivers include increasing chronic diseases, prescription drug costs, labor shortages, administrative expenses, and an aging population, making healthcare unaffordable for many Americans.
It’s safe to say the system is in crisis. Healthcare has plunged into profound dysfunction—fundamental wellness is failing, primary physicians are virtually nonexistent, and health equity and critical services remain out of reach for many. Radical change is the only path forward. There are three general levels within the healthcare system:
Public Health: Focuses on disease prevention and treatment through mandates and policies.
Healthcare Delivery Systems: Includes medicine, hospitals, and facilities primarily focused on treating diseases and managing conditions.
Healthcare Providers: Should prioritize monitoring wellness, preventing disease, and maintaining overall health.
The crisis stems from the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the diminishing role of individual wellness in healthcare. Healthcare providers, who should be leading prevention efforts, are now controlled by larger healthcare systems that prioritize treatment over wellness.
With the rise of big data and AI, public health must evolve to support healthcare delivery systems in implementing stronger prevention and wellness programs. This can be achieved through data-driven expert decision-making, mandates, taxation, and financial incentives that encourage proactive health management.
We must examine the Prevention vs. Treatment Paradigm and recognize the urgent need to shift the focus toward prevention. The current system is predominantly reactive rather than proactive, an approach that is not only more expensive but also less effective in managing both population and individual health. Prioritizing individual wellness is essential in reversing the escalating chronic disease trend, yet this crucial role is increasingly suppressed and marginalized within the system.
Additional Perspectives to Consider:
Economic Drivers: A deeper examination of economic incentives reveals that the current U.S. healthcare system operates primarily on a for-profit model, creating inherent misalignments between patient health and financial motivations. Insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms, and large healthcare networks are often incentivized to prioritize treatment over prevention because it is more profitable.
Technological and Data Considerations: While big data and AI are offering significant advancements in healthcare technology, there is room to further explore the potential of personalized medicine. Key challenges include ensuring patient data privacy, addressing ethical concerns in algorithmic decision-making, and tackling the digital divide that affects healthcare access and technology adoption.
Structural Complexity: The U.S. healthcare system is marked by multiple stakeholders with competing interests, including government regulators, private insurance companies, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, medical products and technology firms, and patient advocacy groups. Additional Suggestions
The system must actively support and promote patient education, and health literacy, and address the socioeconomic factors that affect health. This includes focusing on health equity, cultural approaches to wellness, and the role of lifestyle and personal responsibility in health management.
We know that policy can drive systemic change more quickly than organic adaptation. This can involve shifting reimbursement models to reward prevention, increasing transparency in healthcare pricing, developing a more robust public health infrastructure, creating stronger incentives for holistic, patient-centered care, and making substantial investments in creative health education and wellness programs.
This framework serves as an excellent starting point for understanding the complexities of the U.S. healthcare system. The key is recognizing that meaningful reform requires a systemic, multifaceted approach that balances individual needs, technological innovation, economic realities, and public health objectives.