Many claim that the United States healthcare system is unsuccessful at protecting its people. People struggle because of high payments, insufficient treatments, stagnant progression and the difficulty of even getting an appointment to see a doctor. Although many people blame the broken healthcare system and corporate greed, fixing it will take a very long time and many people’s hard work. For the time being, the public has to make do with what they have to protect themselves.

The first thing to do is some research. Since it is hard to understand medical jargon, those who are not in the healthcare field are more likely to passively follow the advice given by providers, assuming they know best. 

Although most doctors are very empathetic and do their best to get ideal results, some might suggest irrationally expensive or unnecessary treatments for monetary profit. We have to read what we are signing. For instance, when we hear about life support, it seems like a holy grail that allows people to live until eternity. For this reason, when people choose whether they are going to have their loved ones placed on the system, many ask the providers to do everything to keep their family member alive. However, very few people know what actually happens: they intubate the patient with a plastic or metal pipe and the patient is under sedation due to the accompanying discomfort. The patients are also on continuous dialysis where a device continuously filters out toxic chemicals from the blood, and they have a thin tube through their nostrils to receive nutrition supplements through a tube feed, with high intensity medications also infused nonstop. The people under life support are unconscious, in discomfort or brain dead which means that they are unable to interact with their visitors. 

The second thing we must do is take care of our health regularly. Those that are lucky enough to have insurance provided by school or their job should use it to the fullest. Getting regular checkups and assigned follow-up screenings and appointments can help with early detection and prevention of life-threatening illnesses. Also, whenever we feel a physical abnormality, we should not be afraid of seeking help. What we brush-off as not serious could be an early sign of a severe illness. For instance, hypertension does not show physical symptoms until the situation is serious. Even then, some symptoms, such as a pounding feeling in the head or chest, dizziness or lightheadedness, could be passed off as being unimportant. However, hypertension is an indicator of abnormal conditions in our bodily systems. In this context, it is also important to take the advice of your providers seriously and ask any questions that arise rather than self-diagnose. Keep in mind that they are experts in their field.

The third thing to do is understand the perspective of the hospitals and insurance companies. As much as patients are frustrated because of the financial burden, we must know that hospitals and insurance companies have their own stressors. In the hospital’s context, if patients are readmitted after not following their provider’s medical advice, the hospital faces a monetary loss, as they are unable to be compensated regardless of if it wasn’t their fault. If patients are not paying their medical fees or if their insurance is refusing to reimburse the payments, the hospital has to either accept the loss or case management has to struggle to find alternate methods, which involves filing appeals to insurance companies and facing conflict with the patients. In the case where patients are being disrespectful to the hospital’s staff, this leads to high employee turnover and retention. For instance, many hospitals are struggling to keep nurses working on the bedside because many incoming nurses want to leave the field to either pursue a career outside of healthcare or transfer to fields such as outpatient, school nursing, management, education and non-patient contact positions. This eventually leads to deterioration of the quality of care the patients receive because the shortage becomes difficult to fix. In the perspective of the insurance company, The Affordable Care Act bans refusal of insurance enrollment on people with pre-existing conditions. If their clients are frequently ill from not taking care of their health, acting recklessly and if hospitals are demanding irrational amounts of reimbursements and overtreating their clients, it leads to a huge loss on their end. This is why it is important that all parties work together rather than against each other. 

Lastly, caregivers can make their own changes. Although some patients and their families are genuinely rude and abusive, many of them are fearful about the near future, fear death or have past trauma from being undertreated or mistreated in healthcare institutions. In this context, being patient, understanding and taking extra steps can make a huge difference. Rather than being judgemental toward people, showing empathy and a willingness to help can go a long way. This can be achieved by providing thorough explanations for each procedure, respecting the patient’s decisions even if you do not agree with them and working hard to find the best solution rather than doing the bare minimum to not get fired or sued. On the other hand, patients have to understand that caregivers are working with multiple patients at a time, some of them in a more serious situation than others. There are meticulously intricate systems in place to prevent accidents and caregivers are willingly doing a lot of gross, dangerous and difficult things that even their loved ones aren’t willing to do. They are professionals who went through years of education and training and they too are people who must be respected.