The <em>Groundhog Day</em> Of Health Care
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Did you ever see the movie Groundhog Day? For obvious reasons it will probably be playing today on one of the channels you have on your television.
In the movie, Bill Murray is sent to cover Punxatauny Phil and the events surrounding whether the most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania sees his shadow. But the main focus of the movie is that the central character wakes up day after day and it is always February 2….it never changes. He is destined to repeat the day over and over again.
I think about this movie when I think about the issues surrounding health care. How we deliver our care the way we do studies and the way we pay for it. We do many things correctly but we continue to make the same mistakes. The biggest issue is that we need to emphasize the importance of rewarding patients for making healthy choices and rewarding health professionals for encouraging these changes.
It seems so simple but until we make a real attempt at achieving this goal we will relive the same story and have similar results, day after day and year after year.
Reported By Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio Medical Editor
