The Importance of Prevention in 2010
Against a backdrop of upheaval and debate in the health care industry, a paradigm shift is quietly taking place—the transformation from a reactive, treatment-centric health care system to a proactive approach focused on prevention. Regardless of the outcome of any legislative debate, the American ingenuity that brought us airplanes and artificial hearts is steadily uncovering ways to help people live longer, healthier lives.
The global preventive health care movement is based on a simple premise—saving lives and money by keeping people healthy and treating chronic illnesses before they progress. It represents an entirely new way of thinking, centered on preserving health rather than merely treating disease. Today’s preventive health care programs strive to reconnect patients with health care providers for advice and encouragement at every stage of the prevention continuum—not just when they are sick. Based on the clinical science of preventive medicine, these health management programs move beyond simple wellness to identify an individual’s top health risks and recommend specific actions to avert those risks; detect diseases in the earliest stages when treatments are more effective; and slow or reverse the progression of disease.
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