Ian Armstrong Health Trends Assignment

Ian Armstrong

March 24, 2013

Health Trends Assignment

           For my research, I looked at health trends relating to private practice of doctors, and the projected outcomes for their careers in maintaining public health.  For this, I interviewed Dr. Noel Armstrong, DPM (who is my father), a podiatric surgeon working in a private practice of orthopedic surgeons, residing in my home town Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  Five significant trends are listed below:

Trend #1: For doctors employed in hospitals and for doctors who work in private practices, there is a major concern about antibiotic resistance. Dr. Armstrong indicated that this comes from overprescribing antibiotic medication, as a result more patients can develop “superbugs” which are harder to eliminate with medication. In addition to that, Dr. Armstrong said bacteria that was initially only present in hospitals, has been reported in the local community.  This trend of greater bacterial resistance is causing more patients to have multiple infections which is harder to treat.  This can complicate procedures and strain the resources of private practices.

Trend #2: The second trend Dr. Armstrong identified was the significant increase in diabetic patients being treated.  He indicated that this both a result of an aging population, and to put it bluntly, Dr. Armstrong said “Americans are just getting fatter”.  This emerging trend of diabetic patients impacts private practices by putting a strain on their resources. Since the treatment for diabetes can be very intensive (and expensive) private practices often find it hard to maintain enough medication and care for these patients.  Because of this, private medical practices could struggling to maintain full capacity of work, while patient care could decrease.

Trend #3: A positive trend that Dr. Armstrong is seeing in his private practice is the decline of patients with bunions (a problem that develops from the big toe pointing to the second toe, causing pain and discomfort).  This most likely indicates that patients have better shoes because of improved shoe comfort technology. In addition to that Dr. Armstrong said he sees less and less patients with bunions caused by wearing high-heels.  This trend could indicate that people are giving up looking classy for actually being comfortable and happy.  This positive trend is most likely due to patients wearing better shoes, and having access to bunion-preventing measures at health stores.

Trend #4: A common trend is the increase in government healthcare and its effects on doctors and hospitals.  Dr. Armstrong stated that private practices are paid by the patient instead of a salary, which could be a problem since doctors only make a fraction of the money in comparison to privately insured patients. Interestingly, private practices often encourage good patient care because doctors are paid by the patient, this could change however is government welfare forces doctors out of private practices into salary-based hospitals. Dr. Armstrong indicated that this trend could reduce patient care and time with the doctor because doctors are not incentivized like they are in private practice.

Trend #5: In addition to all of this one of the biggest problematic trends according to Dr. Armstrong is the amount of future doctors. He said that there will most likely be a shortage of doctors in the near future which could hinder the efforts of private practices and greatly strain public health. If a practice or hospital is unable to recruit a doctor to fit their needs, people might lose the specialized treatment they need.  Dr. Armstrong also said that this could potentially be a result of government medical welfare policies, which makes potential doctors shy away from the career (although he did indicate that it is stupid for people to go into medicine if all they want is money).  All of this has the potential to stress private practices for doctors if there is not something done about it.