I wish more things were like the Apple iPhone Application Store. I just downloaded a little program called Sleep Cycle. It sits on my bed as I sleep, monitors when I’m dreaming or in deep sleep and adjusts my alarm clock automatically (within a 30 minute window) to wake me when I reach a light sleep stage. I know!
Don’t even get me started about the WC Finder or OneTap movie finder. Or Runkeeper, the program that tracks me via GPS as I run, recording my runs in an online database and connecting me to other runners in my area. Or Stanza, the simple ebook reader that can have me downloading all the classics in a couple of seconds. I’m reading The Count of Monte Cristo on it right now.
The human entrepeneurial spirit is a remarkable one. The American version a particularly remarkable one. When people are shown the carrot, they will formulate the most amazing devices and plans to get it. When used correctly, the entrepeneurs are the engines that drive our economy and standard of living higher.
Why can’t we make medicine like that?
But David, if we do that, there will be some people who get sick from bad doctors who are just out to make money!
Good point. Let’s look at how the app store and almost every other internet business solves this problem. Did they get government? No. Did they propose legislation? No. Did they use a feedback mechanism which built a company’s reputation? You bet your ass they did.
Bad news travels faster than good news for a reason. You can have a system where half the people can’t get good care because there are a thousand laws in between a med graduate and a practicing doctor. Or where people fork over a large portion of their wealth to buy into a bloated, astronomically expensive and wasteful government-endorsed system. Or you can accept some element of risk, do your research from other customers and go with the specific solution the market has dreamt up.
There is yet an iPhone application that can scan my brainwaves to determine, diagnose and treat my ailments. But you can bet that when such a House MD app exists it will be the result of some person’s dream of making themself rich.
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Tags: healthcare, iphone, sleep cycle