Perhaps in a medical fiction book, what healthcare needed more than anything was less humanity. AI in healthcare is all the rage, so much so that the media is inundated daily with truly incredible developments, and the notoriously underfunded healthcare system seems to have struck PR gold.
While there’s nothing wrong with optimizing care and making it smarter, medical personnel have taken exception to the massive grants being poured into this research. Andy Lazris, M.D., a geriatric internal care physician and author of Three Brothers from Virginia, has explored in many of his works how the direction that healthcare moves in sometimes lacks sense.
The disproportionate focus on artificial intelligence seems more than a little insulting to the American citizens who trust the government to take care of them. Then again, the ongoing campaign for more AI in healthcare is flush with propaganda and leaves little room for the public to stop and think critically about it.
The Good Old Fashioned Cover Up
Apart from its gross digression from the Hippocratic Oath, artificial intelligence isn’t the shiny new thing it’s portrayed to be. It’s an uninspired imitation of a trend that’s been washing over every industry, and it’s been going on for a while. Not to take away from the potential, because no doctor would dispute that eliminating errors is a great thing to explore, but does AI deserve to be given the spotlight it’s getting?
In 2021, $10 billion went into designer medical technology as compared with $2.7 billion in 2018. Wealthy investors hear from wealthy businesspersons that AI is the future and is destined to make several human roles in healthcare redundant, which entices them even though there’s an affordability crisis. However, it hasn’t lived up to their prophecies. Radiologists and administrators are still a necessity in hospitals, and the majority of artificial intelligence’s contribution focuses on streamlining billing practices and managing data.
The Reality Check
Walk into a hospital or even shop for a healthcare reform book, and you might notice that one of the leading diseases plaguing Americans is medical debt and insufficient earnings to pay medical bills. It doesn’t matter how smart, organized, and well-managed a hospital is. 41% of adults face medical debt, and yes, that includes Medicare beneficiaries.
Sure, that’s worth something, but it seems that the higher-ups and the self-appointed directors of healthcare are so far removed from the average American’s medical experience that it never occurred to them that the infrastructure for anything more than an intelligent billing system doesn’t exist.
The cost of progressing AI in healthcare is akin to a child covering an ugly stain with glitter to distract passersby. If only such vigor was put into righting Medicare, so many lives could’ve been saved. If you think that’s not true, then you must check out Curing Medicare, a nonfiction book that holds your attention.
What Healthcare Needs
The current state of medicine is pretty blue, and what’s needed is an investment into mental healthcare, nursing, and awareness of the importance of bedside manners. Or perhaps even some relief for the 1.7 million patients who acquire healthcare-associated infections per year, according to the CDC. Almost every glaring issue in healthcare was highlighted in the pandemic, and the solution: artificial intelligence.
Healthcare, if anything, needs human and emotional intelligence. Students are trained from an early stage to prioritize bedside manner, but still, it’s found to be widely lacking in institutions. It’s publicly advocated by everyone who’s able to get a word in that what we need is real patient-centered care, empathy, and customized care.
On the other hand, the Land Of The Free could use some preventative measures to skim off the racism intertwined in the healthcare system. There’s also a horde of amoral fraudulent billing by doctors that’s well documented but never properly addressed. Along with that, there’s very little consistency.
Andy Lazris wrote The Geriatrics Vengeance Club because he was angry about how the elderly patients were being neglected by a healthcare system responsible for safeguarding all Americans, and while he’s spread much awareness there are still those who can’t help but ignore larger problems. His advice is to stay away from doctors, so purchase non fiction books 2021 at his nonfiction bookstore online and take care of yourself because you don’t want to find yourself reliant on this medical system to save your life.
At least not until there’s a significant upheaval and rewriting of certain policies. If you’d like to get inspired to start affecting change within your community, purchase fiction book online January 6th And The Millenial Horde!
About The Author
Annie Michaels is a medical researcher who started her career in pharmaceuticals and recently made the switch to academic research. She is currently writing a thesis about the barriers faced by doctors and medical persons when trying to improve the state of the practice. She has two daughters and works part-time as a consultant for insurance companies.
