A Paradigm Shift in Healthcare
The new paradigm in healthcare is here: patients are in the driver’s seat of their health journey.
Are you driving the car? Or is the car driving you?
This winter has been about deep, pensive reflection for me. The two-year anniversary of All Ages Osteopathy shifted my focus away from setting new goals towards reflection of the remarkable things I’ve learned since starting my practice. As I’ve come in to my own, it’s clear I need to surrender to the wave of teachings from the community. I can’t count the number of times I’ve delved deep into a subject for one patient, only to have the very next patient directly benefit from the knowledge I gleaned. We are all in sync. This teaching proves to me that the new paradigm in healthcare that is slowly but surely sweeping the nation has landed at AAO. Patients want to be in the driver’s seat of their healthy journey, and I encourage them take the wheel.
Here are three ways I’ve observed this new paradigm in action at AAO.
Power and Authority:
My ideal patient is in the driver’s seat of their health, and they trust me to be the co-pilot. I’m here to provide support and comfort, to help keep them on the path to optimal health, as well as make sure they stay within the lines of what is safe. When I was growing up, my pediatrician always wore a white coat and stethoscope around his neck. This uniform was a symbol of higher education therefore trust. Whatever he said, my parents and I did. No questions asked. The doctor was always right. Fast forward to today, the internet provides more information about health conditions than a typical fifteen-minute doctor’s visit and people have research studies, statistics, and the highest-qualified specialists at their fingertips. While in residency, I couldn’t help but analyze the power dynamic between patients and physicians. I quickly decided the ‘white coat and stethoscope way’ didn’t appeal to me and this community has proved to me they don’t want it either.
Business Model:
From the birth of All Ages Osteopathy, I employed the monthly membership model. Thousands of physicians across the nation have adopted this model often referred to as Direct Primary Care or Concierge so what I’m doing is hardly revolutionary anymore, but as time goes on, I’ve come to love this model more and more. The monthly membership model allows doctors to do a better job, because there aren’t insurance-provoked time restrictions. Longer appointments enable a closer relationship between patient and doctor. Instead of always requesting the patient come into the office (because this used to be the only way to get paid), doctors and patients can have quick conversations over the phone. Patients agree, once you’ve switched to this form of receiving healthcare, it’s hard to imagine going back to the old paradigm. Think of it like progressing from Blockbuster to Netflix. The idea of paying per movie, and always having to go into the store, now sounds absurd. I don’t miss Blockbuster because Netflix is an obvious improvement.
Root Cause:
The patient and I consider both the biophysical perspective and the biochemical perspective. We don’t fix healthcare concerns superficially. We take into consideration the patient’s energetics, traumas, and spiritual work. A biophysical perspective is simply practicing Osteopathic medicine the way it was meant to be practiced. Structure plays a very intimate role with the function in our bodies and is something that simply cannot be overlooked. With little exception, every visit to my office has an Osteopathic adjustment. The biochemical root cause analysis is utilizing advanced functional medicine lab screenings to diagnose and manage someone’s personalized biochemistry. These test results provide us the information we need to help the body function optimally. Examples include, but are not limited to, optimization of gut health, inflammation, and macro and micronutrients.
While I’m still quite young in my career, I feel confident about the new paradigm path I’ve chosen. I listen to my patients and their feedback reinforces my belief that this new paradigm works. My community is healthier than ever, and I can’t count the number of texts, calls and emails I’ve received over the past two years of how much better people feel mentally or physically after bodywork. The only surprising part of any of these lessons, is that more doctors don’t make these changes. Many don’t change because the old paradigm doesn’t allow for the time it takes to creating lasting results.
So, let’s continue down this healthcare revolution path together, with you in the driver’s seat.
We’ll embrace the way medicine used to be practiced in combination with the most advanced technology of our day. I aim to take wisdom from the past while also embracing the changes in health caused by the modern way of life.
I’m happy that you’re on the journey with me, and if you aren’t, what are you waiting for?
Take the wheel!
