“In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men.” ~Cicero
To heal, is a doctor’s primary function. The earliest use of the term” doctor" in written English was in 1303, and the term applied to "doctors of the Church," meaning "learned men in the scriptures. It fundamentally meant that a physician’s role must be primarily to teach and disseminate knowledge.
The ancient Greeks, Romans, Indians, Egyptians, virtually every ancient civilization assigned a divine role to healing. Indeed, temples of the Gods were the first healing houses in Europe, and till the middle ages, healing places were attached to places of worship. So much has changed in the intervening years- Lister's contribution to antisepsis, Florence Nightangle's contribution to hygiene, Roentgen's discovery of Xrays, Morton's demonstration of anaesthesia, Fleming's discovery of penicillin, the discovery of new surgical techniques, and finally, in the later part of the last century, the breathtaking developments in technology, imaging, surgery including transplants, genetics and myriad other interrelated fields. Medicine today is an amalgamation of art and science.
Concomittantly, today's healthcare field has grown beyond the traditional 'doctor-patient' relationship, and has become entirely more complex. It involves medicine, technology, psychology, organizational dynamics, teamwork, economics and myriad other fields which merge into a polyglot. The physician is just a part of this polyglot which includes providers, payors, nurses, paramedical staff, engineers, lawyers, administrative staff, managers, technology providers, pharma providers, medical device providers and others, including the government ,policy makers and civil society!
Where does this leave us? With one fundamental premise- that we must synergize and capitalize upon our strengths to take healthcare truly into the new millennium. Dr.Atul Gawande in his commencement address at Harvard Medical School recently described the enormous complexity of healthcare and concluded that it is perhaps time for physicians to metamorphose from Cowboys (lone rangers) to Pit Crew (team players). That premise stands true for all of us in the healthcare field. To illustrate, the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London applied the fundamentals used by F1 racing crews to bring about change in its postsurgical outcomes. It stands that healthcare must be open as an industry and learn from other fields. If the 20th Century ended with the halo of IT, there is no reason this Century cannot become the Century of the Healthcare industry. Projections say that healthcare has the potential to be one of the leading employment providers. What needs to be ensured are the three fundamentals of quality, accessibility and affordability.
Coming to the purpose of this blog, it is to share knowledge on healthcare. Anything relevant on healthcare is welcome- medical developments, technology, the history of medicine, process improvement in healthcare, accreditation, project management, investments, even grandma's good old medical remedies - anything that relates to this vast and vital field. The blog corresponds to the group "Healthcare Excellence" on linkedin and we would be launching on facebook too. We aim to provide a broad-based forum for knowledge –sharing and networking and promise that we will keep the contents of this blog in line with recent developments on healthcare. We would like to learn from you, so please feel free to post your views , comments, and suggestions.
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Let us synergize and capitalize on our innate abilities.
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