© Wim Daniels
In his recently published book Taking Care of Healthcare, Professor Dr. Dominik Vandyck (UGent) looks at why investment in our healthcare is so successful and what could be improved. “It may be a little more revolution than evolution.”
“I spent years at the patient bedside in hospital, and then moved more into the regulatory side, holding policy and research positions at university and teaching,” says Prof. Dr. Dominik Vandyck from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care in Ghent. “I was asked to write up my findings about our health care,” he says.
He did this in the book “Caring through Caring.” “I mainly tried to write a positive and optimistic vision, not pessimism or pity. I’m not a street fighter, but it might be a little more revolution than evolution.”
How is our health care?
“Our health system does a number of things very well. We are among the best in the world medically and technically. You could say that Belgium is the perfect country for the disease. We spend a great deal of money on health care, but only a small portion of this enormous budget goes to Prevention, the way we deliver health care has to change, we no longer have to offer everything under the steeple – and thirty or fifty different specialties in each hospital – but there has to be a distribution of really high-tech specialist care in a number of places, but around “There is regional access to care that benefits patients with multiple diseases.”
“Funding our health care offers benefits – it stimulates access and innovation – but it does not stimulate health promotion enough. A structural focus on prevention – ensuring people do not get sick or delaying the development of disease in a timely manner – is also important. Not possible Edit capabilities.”
Where exactly do you start with that?
“Our hospitals are about 40 to 60 percent filled with people with theoretically preventable diseases. Many of these diseases can be traced to the classics: smoking, alcohol, not enough exercise, obesity. We need to do more; Starting in infancy promotes healthy behavior almost imperceptibly – PaymentAs they call it: controlling our behavior with very small interventions and encouraging healthy behavior. In the book I give an example that shows that prevention does not always have to be long-term and does not have to cost a lot. In Scotland, they found that the number of children with prediabetes, overweight and diabetes rose in primary schools. They replaced the candy and soft drinks in the vending machines with fruit and water, and let the students roam the playground every day. “After a year, they’ve seen a reduction in those complaints, and it doesn’t cost anything.”
Where do you think the extra money goes?
“Towards treating preventable conditions. People often say there’s not enough money. But a bit provocatively, you could say there’s enough money, but it needs to be invested smarter. Sometimes it’s overused.” Clinical biology and medical imaging, among others This is not always the fault of doctors alone, the system also makes us evolve towards those jobs that pay to compensate those who are severely underfunded and the role of the government is also to provide certain care in the deficit and continuity “In excelling in accessibility and solidarity, such that only a significant portion of the Gaussian curve cannot access care and rare cases fall by the wayside.”
In this context, how do you view doctors’ fees?
“This is always a sensitive discussion. The majority of colleagues agree that the nomenclature needs to be recalibrated. We have been working on this for a long time, but it is difficult to make progress. Fees are often based on some things that are historically overvalued, such as radiology and nephrology, where It should be sorted out a bit but I don’t think it will happen right away, I think keeping it under control is more realistic but the discussion has come to the surface recently being rewarded in terms of training and responsibility… but it seems clear to me that there should be a standard for this that many are aware of Of people the model and general resources are limited but often encounter a classic standard. Everyone wants change, but no one wants change. It won’t depend on one thing to balance the system. “It’s all about funding, and targeting only doctors is too simplistic.”
“Health Care – Why Investing in Health Pays Off” by Prof. Dr. Dominik Vandyck is published by Lannoo and costs €25.99.
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