Why preventative care isn’t the norm yet: 5 key barriers
Why prevention matters more than ever today
Seventy years ago, chronic diseases were rare, but today they have reached pandemic levels.
Increasingly, people are becoming overweight, sedentary, depressed, hypertensive and facing conditions like high cholesterol and diabetes.
In Belgium, 1 in 4 individuals suffers from hypertension, 18% have elevated cholesterol (rising to 70% for those over 40 years old), and 10% are affected by diabetes.
Our modern lifestyle has put everyone at risk, affecting not only the elderly but an alarming number of young adults as well.
Now read this:
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, with 18.5 million lives lost annually, followed by cancer at 10 millions.
Studies show that approximately 80% of cardiovascular diseases or type 2 diabetes could be prevented through early prevention and care.
This well-known statement and statistic are frequently referenced in many presentations about prevention by politicians, hospital CEOs, insurance companies and many others.
However, talk alone isn’t enough, and simply doubling the prevention budget won’t solve the problem either.
5 obstacles holding doctors back
You want to know why doctors keep fixing things after they've gone wrong, rather than delay or even preventing them?
I believe, there are 5 main reasons and these are all interconnected.
1. Lack of training to keep people healthy
We have little to no training in medicine about lifestyle intervention related to physical exercice, nutrition, mental health and sleep. If some doctors do know a lot about lifestyle intervention, it's because they took the initiative (and time) to learn beyond the standard medical curriculum. Hats off to them! 🎩 👏
Moreover, cardiovascular risk stratification is essential to ensure high-quality, personalized care. Many doctors rely solely on traditional risk factors but may not be aware that factors like menopause or PCOS significantly increase cardiovascular risk, certain chemotherapy treatments can harm the heart and require follow-up, and complications during pregnancy also elevate cardiovascular risk.
2. Lack of tools and time
Preventive medicine is a real challenge when most of us, doctors, only have 15-20 minutes per patient. Time is our greatest adversary, especially considering the significant amount wasted on administrative tasks and clicking through digital interfaces rather than engaging in meaningful conversations with patients. The average mouse click per day of a doctor is 4000! Trying to deliver a high-quality consultation in just 15-20 minutes, especially with outdated tools, is a significant challenge. This seems nonsensical in a world where technology and AI can be leveraged not to replace us, but to rehumanize medicine.
3. Lack of collaboration
Delivering exceptional care is synonymous with a team-based approach. Nowhere is this more crucial than in outpatient care, where lifestyle interventions and chronic care management are paramount.
It's time we recognize the power of collaboration in healthcare—bringing together diverse expertise and perspectives to tackle complex health challenges head-on. Together, we can transform outcomes and empower lives.
4. Lack of financial incentives
Our healthcare system is based on a fee for service model payment so It means that we are reimbursed based on the number of services we provide (like consultation, medical tests, surgical procedure and so on).
Therefore, our money is dependent on the quantity of care. The more patients we see, the more money we earn; and the more care we provide to the same patients, the more revenue we generate. Sickness is profitable. Cardiovascular diseases are profitable. Prevention is not. Success should be measured by keeping you healthy, not billing you more.
The average EU country spends just 3% of its annual healthcare budget on preventive care, compared to 53% on curative and rehabilitative care. This doesn’t make sense.
5. Lack of doctors setting a good example
Many doctors don't prioritize their own health, and that affects how we care for our patients.
In fact, most of us :
- Do not pay attention to what we eat, squeezing meals in during lunch meetings or while managing administrative tasks in front of the computer, all to avoid delays and to make room for our personal time.
- Are used to irregular shifts and disrupted sleep in hospital settings. Being on call at home for a week every other week, receiving phone calls all night, clearly increases our risk of heart attack, stroke and even dementia.
- Work in a paternalistic environment, which can hinder open discussions about mental well-being.
- Often struggle to incorporate regular physical activity into our routines, given our demanding schedules.
As a result, many of us struggle with issues like smoking, obesity, burnout, and a sedentary lifestyle. This raises an important question: how can we encourage our patients to live healthier lives if we aren't setting a good example?
To truly help our patients, we need to take care of ourselves first and show them what good health looks like.
Healthcare needs a revolution—starting now
Our role as doctors goes beyond just treating symptoms and diseases; it's about promoting and preserving optimal health. This means taking a comprehensive approach that considers not just the physical aspects but also the molecular, metabolic, psychological, and even emotional dimensions of a person.
We must remember that each patient is more than just a set of biological functions—they are complex individuals with dreams, fears, and a deep need for support, connection, and a sense of purpose.
A revolution in healthcare delivery is needed, and it should have started yesterday.
What we’re doing at Riva
It should be the government’s responsibility to lead this revolution, but it’s unrealistic to expect them to solve these problems alone and quickly.
I felt the need to create Riva because I refuse to spend the last 25 years of my career hoping someone else will upgrade our healthcare system, and end up in a bleak office filled with diplomas on the wall, feeling like I made no real impact.
At Riva, we are working to create a new standard of care with :
- A patient-doctor platform which :
- Automates manual tasks and empowers doctors to seamlessly incorporate preventive care into their practice with enhanced efficiency.
- Translates medical consultations and creates a user-friendly health dashboard for patients, empowering them to take control of their health.
- A new standard of health check-ups that go beyond what you know to help you understand and reduce your personal risk factors, detect and treat diseases before they become severe and improve your quality of life, starting today.
- An academy to train doctors to learn how to embed proactive care in their daily routine.
- A healthy environment to deliver the best care, such as our clinic in Brussels.
Check-out our new website to learn more and start your journey to healthier and longer life.
Laura.