Modern Medicine's goals include the relief of pain and suffering, the promotion of health
and disease prevention, the cure of disease when possible, and the care for those who
cannot be cured. As medicine progresses, we are also becoming more conscious of making
care and treatments more affordable while still placing a great deal of emphasis on quality
of care. For procedures to be cost effective they also must be effective in providing a
health benefit. Modern medicine is heavily evidence based and evidence-based treatments
have been shown to result in a high level of care and positive patient outcomes. As new
technology is developed and modern medicine continues to be evidence based, there will
eventually be a better treatment option for all chronic conditions.
I feel that it is very possible for a different procedure to result in a better diagnosis
for a patient. There are several factors that caregivers must weigh when deciding on the
appropriate procedure that will result in the best diagnosis and outcome for a patient. They
have to determine the technologies that their hospital or medical facility has access to and
whether they are sufficient to treat the patient. They also consider the preferences of the
patient if a less invasive treatment option may be available. Cost also plays a factor in a
caregiver’s decision to use a particular treatment or procedure. There could be an
experimental procedure that may have shown better outcomes to the current treatment
options on the market, but if it is expensive and not backed by as much medical evidence
it may not be the best option for the caregiver to utilize.
Early detection and diagnosis are imperative for many life-threatening diseases
such as cancer. Often if a disease can be caught in its early stages there is a much higher
likelihood that it can be cured. When a diagnosis is accurate and made in a timely manner,
a patient has the best opportunity for a positive health outcome because clinical decision
can be tailored based on a accurate understanding of the patient's health problem.
According to Shannon Haymond of Scientific American a recent study estimates that in
the United States, some 251,000 deaths per year occur because of errors in medical care.
This makes medical errors the third leading cause of death, only after heart disease and
cancer. One example where this comes into play is with complex genetic testing. Wrong
tests may be ordered, or the right tests may not. When tests are used for purposes and on
populations of patients outside of their intended use, results can be unhelpful, or most
importantly, harmful.
References:
The diagnostic process - improving diagnosis in health care - NCBI ... (n.d.). Retrieved
May 27, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK338593/
Haymond, S. (2016, May 9). What everyone should know about lab tests. Scientific
American Blog Network. Retrieved May 26, 2022, from
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/what-everyone-should-know-about-
lab-tests/
