The 10 Best Rehabilitation Centers to Watch in 2019 The 10 Best Rehabilitation Centers to Watch in 201 | Page 38

Knowledge
Complexity
First, there is the science of medicine. There are estimated 10,000-30,000 diseases
known to us that affect humans, of which only a few (500-1,000) have a known cure.
There are over 4,000 diagnostic lab tests, over 400 imaging tests and interventions,
about 12,000 drugs, approximately 600-1000 procedures. Medical practitioners build
up their skills over 60 main specialties and several hundred subspecialties. This
knowledge base is constantly updated and modified so fast that even the best
practitioners find it very hard to keep up.
Then we have the complexity of the vulnerable and disease-prone human system that
is designed to die from the moment it is born. Over 100 billion cells, 78 organs (11
complex large organs) and 12 interdependent systems make the human body - ever-
changing, continuously monitoring, detecting, and self-healing. The National Institute
of Health, USA now estimates that over 400,000 people die unnecessarily each year
in the US alone due to medical errors making it the third leading cause of death.
A typical healthcare intervention consists of a 4-day admission into a 400-bed
Many-to-many hospital
during which stay you get “managed” by over 40 different persons across
175-200
This takes place across multiple specialties, multiple diseases,
Interactions multiple encounters.
drugs, procedures, and tests. None of these result in absolute guarantees. A
reasonable large variance in each encounter can result in the same event being
interpreted, acted, and monitored in completely different ways by different persons
(the knowledge and competency of and tools available to doctors, nurses, technicians,
management, ward boys, pharmacists etc.) Finally, there is the inherent lack of
congruence on motivation on the part of the patient (the consumer) and the rest (the
payer and the provider). Efficiency vs. effectiveness, today vs. tomorrow, cost vs.
profit, need vs. greed, and the strange but compulsive desire by all humans to
outsource their mistakes and seek a free ride on someone else’s goodwill.
Availability
36 |April 2019|
Hospitals operate 24/7 but are not fully functional at night or weekends. Patients, on
the other hand, need urgent instantaneous care (be it advice, first aid, trauma, or acute
pain). Patients often commute for 1-24 hours, wait for 15-45 minutes, only to see a
doctor for 2-15 minutes.