Revolutionizing Health Care

An open letter to NPR

Subject: Revolutionizing Health Care

August 21, 2006

Dear Jacqueline,

I am an ardent listener of yours and supporter of Nashville Public Radio. I realize you are an award winning journalist and this is one reason I feel you have the credibility and respect to bring an important message to your listeners and hopefully the national audience.

As a medical practitioner with 27 years experience as a Physical Therapist and owner of three clinics, I KNOW medical practice has to change and I want to provide some stunning statistics that may motivate a story about the evolving healthcare issues today.

Currently in the workplace, a person with injuries is divided up into bones (orthopedist), nerves (neurologist), pain (pain specialist), etc., rather than being seen as a whole person. Patients are more educated today and are usually willing to take responsibility to aid in their recovery.

Today on 1430 AM, a Yale Physician was talking about how Alternative Medicine is becoming more mainstream. There was a study run on osteoarthritis patients to see if acupuncture reduced pain. They found that there was notable pain reduction with needle insertion. The approach was concerning, in the fact that, acupuncture was used like pain pills for treating the symptoms. Alternative and Natural Medicine is designed to restore the body to a healing mode, whether it requires nutrition, supplements, different frame of thinking or many other modalities available. Treating single symptoms of a chronic disease is like sandbagging banks of a flooded river due to a dam breaking. If the dam is repaired, no need for sandbags' you get the idea.

This leads into another costly concern of mine. In 2004, 80 billion dollars was spent for workplace injuries. It cost another 300 billion to replace and/or re-train the injured employees, and maintain the slow production lines. The money spent increases every year. Many companies have doctors, nurses, and therapists in the workplace. They usually attend to the employee post injury.

With the economy in a state of flux, recession knocking at the door and healthcare rising, we need to look for remedies.

In Nashville we are incorporating injury prevention education about wellness, nutrition and fitness, job matching, and providing physician and physical therapy services. We are on the cutting edge of healthcare. It's less expensive to stay out of trouble than get out of trouble. The same goes for injury. It is easier and more economical to prevent injuries than pay for them. We can save over 50% in the workplace's medical (direct and indirect) costs.

If a more holistic view of the human living organism is placed as a priority, not only the physical body but also the mind, memory, feelings, thoughts, and what is happening to the body can make a huge difference in the rapid and effective healing. Injuries are not only physical phenomenon. Many times only the physical body is treated, a fact that can produce only partial results. This approach can also resolve some of the issues include the expense of being directed to a General Practitioner and then a line of specialists, who seldom even communicate to the patient, must less plan a mutual strategy of healing to help them. We have to change what we are doing. If we continue to do what we are doing, we will keep getting what we have now and it's not providing successful results for individuals or the economy.

Thank you for your time and attention to this subject. Your opinion is valuable and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Karen Pryor, PT

To have Dr. Karen Pryor speak at your event, email kpryor@caringhealthsource.com.