Summary: A new study shows that patients are looking more and more for personalized care. They want more than a fix for a sudden health problem. They want their doctors to know about their emotional struggles too.
This matters most because many chronic health issues are hard to cure. Most patients say doctors should do more to help them manage stress. Medicine has come a long way in the last 50 years. That does not mean patients are happy with the health care system. In some ways, the system has slid back a bit. In the old days of family medicine, doctors paid close attention to patients. They knew them well and talked with them. Today’s doctors focus on finding and treating disease. But a new CVS Health 2022 study confirms that people expect much more attention from their doctors. They want the whole person treated. Humans are not machines where you find the broken part and fix it. People have feelings. Mental health, mood, and physical health are linked. So the study shows that people want their doctors more involved in their lives. They want doctors to weigh emotional factors. They want doctors to understand the stress they are under and to know their life in general. Patients were asked if they cared more about overall well-being or lower stress. A full 81% said they want their health care provider to be aware of their emotional needs and overall happiness. So doctors must know how their patients cope with day-to-day stress. Health experts say this talk has become more and more common. Most experts now see a need for change, with doctors focused more on patient well-being. That is why many have been talking about value-based care in recent years. Value-based health care is a way of giving care that focuses on delivering high-quality healthcare services while cutting costs. It puts the patient’s well-being and results first, not the number of services sold. In value-based health care, providers are rewarded for working together. They give joined-up care built around each patient’s needs. The idea is simple: good care should lead to better health, lower costs, and happier patients. The main goal is better health and a better patient experience at a lower cost. It gets there by cutting waste and repeat services, linking care between providers, and focusing on prevention and wellness. The model also rewards providers who work as a team and use data and tech to give personal care built on the patient’s needs. Of course, the value-based model is just one example. Researchers say the name of the model does not matter. What matters is knowing that patients want personalized care. They want care for the whole person. People expect doctors to do more than treat the problem in front of them. Doctors must take a wider look. That approach would also do a better job of preventing illness. Experts say personal support for patients matters more than once thought. Take “long Covid,” as an example. A person keeps having health problems long after the Covid infection is gone. They often have fatigue, mood swings, sleep problems, cough, fever that comes and goes, and more. Science still does not know the cause. But close personal attention to patients can help in these cases. So many believe the future of medicine is personal patient care. And no two patients are the same, even with a similar diagnosis.
Frequently asked questions
Why do patients want personalized care?
Patients want doctors who see the whole person, not only the disease. In the CVS Health 2022 study described above, 81% of people said they want their healthcare provider to be aware of their emotional needs and overall happiness. They want doctors to weigh emotional factors. They want doctors to understand their stress and know their life in general, the way family doctors once did.
What is personalized healthcare and how does it work?
Personalized healthcare treats each patient as a person, not a machine to find and fix. The doctor looks past the problem at hand to the patient’s mood, stress, and daily life. That is because mental health, feelings, and physical health are linked. No two patients are the same, even with a similar diagnosis. So the plan is built around the person.
What are the benefits of personalized healthcare plans?
Taking a wider look at the patient does a better job of preventing illness, not just treating it. Value-based care is one model built on this idea. It aims for better health, lower costs, and happier patients. It gets there by cutting waste and repeat services, linking care between providers, and focusing on prevention and wellness.
Can you provide some examples of personalized healthcare?
Long Covid is one. People with it can have fatigue, mood swings, sleep problems, cough, and fever that comes and goes. This can last long after the infection clears, and science still does not know the cause. When the cause is unknown, close personal attention to the patient can help. Value-based care is another example. In it, providers work together on care built around each patient’s needs.
It is our mission to bring real hope and transformational change to patients who would otherwise be consigned to a lifetime of medications, doctor’s visits, and suffering. We expose misaligned incentives and return the power of health to the individual. We believe empowered individuals change their communities. We use a combination of lifestyle intervention, medication management, and emerging scientific research to help our patients. When you are ready or have questions, reach out. The content provided herein is not intended to provide assessment, diagnosis, treatment, or medical advice; it also does not constitute provision of healthcare services. No information in this content should ever be considered as a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional, it is provided for thoughtful discussion, informational and educational purposes only.
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP
