Is Functional Medicine the new Paradigm?
In 2020, the cost of the healthcare industry was one fifth of the United States economy at $4.1 trillion. That is the highest cost for developed nations. And that would be fine if we actually had really great healthcare; however, the numbers show that we do not lead in any health category compared to other developed countries. In fact, we come in dead last for unmanaged diabetes.
It is not surprising that diabetes is actually the most costly condition in the United States when it comes to out-of-pocket prescription costs. Diabetes pays more than $700 out-of-pocket a year, with adults spending 4 times the amount on medications along with having more than 4 times the amount of prescriptions.
The alarming prescription numbers don’t stop there. Around 70% of the US population is on at least one prescription drug, while more than 50% is on more than 2 medications. The average prescription for someone in the US is 4. Prescription drug costs total about $73 billion a year.
These are insightful numbers and most of which was covered in “Navigating the Numbers”. However, reiteration of the numbers is needed to illustrate how broken our US healthcare system is. What is the cure or the remedy for the broken system?
Founded in 1991 by Dr. Jeffrey Bland, alongside his wife Susan, the Institute for Functional Medicine is built with the foundation of a systems biology-based approach, and focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Functional Medicine takes an individualized-approach to discern what is causing disease through the use of science-based measures that empower the patient to understand why they are experiencing what they are in their health.
Through its various tools, Functional Medicine reviews the patient’s history, maps the symptoms, and proceeds to look at the underlying conditions through genetics, lifestyle factors, environmental exposures, and individual biochemistry. The average Functional Medicine patient experience is 60 minutes spent with the doctor to go over their history, concerns, and making a plan. Of course, this can vary depending on the type of consultation.
Contrast that to our current healthcare system, where you spend an estimated 121 minutes in the doctor’s office, with only 15-20 minutes of that time being spent with the physician, regardless of specialty or primary care physician. And during that visit, the physician accesses the patient’s symptoms, prescribes a medication, and then asks for a follow up. Is it any wonder why Americans are getting sicker by the year? They don’t have healthcare, they have ‘managed sickcare’.
Could we take the mainstream medical model and change it? Imagine if you will the average 4 trips to the doctor a year that Americans make consists of 1-hour long visits with the Functional Medicine physician. In that time the doctor examines the patient, goes over patient history, and draws blood for analysis on various body systems that goes deeper than the regular complete blood panel normally performed by conventional primary physicians.
After the results are in the doctor sits down with the patient and goes over every aspect of the bloodwork so the patient gets a clear picture of their health and what exactly everything means. From there, the Functional Medicine doctor makes recommendations on how to make lifestyle changes, or perhaps recommends supplements that will create more balance in the patient. Once the recommendations are made, the patient then works with a certified health coach to design his or her plan to work on the lifestyle changes.
Hopefully by using this type of model, the patient is more of the director of all of the decisions. While the doctor provides the necessary expert information to gauge the best options, it is up to the patient to ultimately make the decision about the course of action. Instead of a one-size-fits-all paradigm where drugs are king and the doctor makes all the expert decisions, maybe the decision needs to reside with the patient and the doctor lays out all of the options. In the end, nobody knows the patient’s body like the patient since they live in it everyday.
It’s time for a new model. Functional Medicine has a more patient-focused and evidence-based approach that is worth examining and expanding into the mainstream. American lives depend on it. Everyone deserves to have actual healthcare that strives to improve their lives. Not to mention the fact that through Functional Medicine, the patient is the driver of all the decisions, not a doctor, and surely not an insurance company.