Lack Of Trust In The Health Care Industry: A Branding Crisis

Coach is Right ^ | 9/9/14 | Michael D. Shaw

[Oldpuppymax]

Because health care can become a life or death matter, there never seems to be a shortage of crises. For example, the launching pad for approval of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was the insurance coverage crisis. Tens of millions of Americans did not have health insurance, and the sheer numbers involved, combined with potential financial devastation, pushed this crisis to the forefront.

Although it is not normally called a “crisis,” the widespread use of so-called Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) does not reflect well on mainstream medicine in the US. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, approximately 38 percent of adults and 12 percent of children are using some form of CAM. Let’s be precise with our definitions (also taken from NCCAM).

The agency views CAM as “[A] group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine. Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine, and alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine.” For the sake of argument, we will go with NCCAM’s rather monolithic definition of “conventional” as “Medicine as practiced by holders of M.D. (medical doctor) or D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) degrees and by their allied health professionals such as physical therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses.”

It should be noted that the agency strives to explore CAM via rigorous scientific methods, to build an evidence base for the safety and effectiveness of these practices. The implication here is that all of conventional medicine is...

[GeronL]

It’s just “branding”?

leftists are stupid, just really stupid

[WVNan]

Since the day Pres. Johnson launched the “Great Society” the American health care system has become more “care” about the “coin” than the care. So why should anyone trust it? I will do anything I can to avoid seeing any doctor. Can’t find it in my heart to trust them with my life.