By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    UV damage to eyes
    Warning Signs of Long-Term UV Damage to Your Eyes
    December 9, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    The Ultimate Healthcare Recruiting and Staffing Guidebook
    March 21, 2022
    medicare part d benefits
    Everything that You Need to Know About Medicare Part D
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    nursing program
    7 Tips to Picking the Best Nursing Program
    February 5, 2018
    Health Care: A Modern-Day Blade Runner?
    December 10, 2014
    Occupational Therapy Assistant | Medical Assistant | Home Health Aide
    In-Demand Healthcare Support Jobs
    April 16, 2016
    Latest News
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
    Strengthening Healthcare Systems Through Clinical and Administrative Career Development
    June 13, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Are We Treating Symptoms While Ignoring the Cause?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Are We Treating Symptoms While Ignoring the Cause?
Health Reform

Are We Treating Symptoms While Ignoring the Cause?

tkilpatrick
Last updated: June 4, 2015 8:00 am
tkilpatrick
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

Mary is admitted to the hospital with symptoms caused by high blood sugar. She has type 2 diabetes and is overweight. The hospital staff restores her fluids and insulin to proper levels.  Did her health conditions cause her hospital stay?

Are health conditions the symptoms or cause?

Mary is admitted to the hospital with symptoms caused by high blood sugar. She has type 2 diabetes and is overweight. The hospital staff restores her fluids and insulin to proper levels.  Did her health conditions cause her hospital stay?

Are health conditions the symptoms or cause?

More Read

physicians and medicare payments
Physician Payments: The Not-So-Secret Secret
Healthcare Innovation: Moving from Stewardship to Leadership
Pushback On My Medicare Proposals
Will ObamaCare Finally Cause American Seniors to Turn Against Government Health Care?
Worries Over Expanding Health Coverage May Be Unfounded

We treat health conditions with counseling, education, medications, therapy and other medical treatments such as surgery.  The health conditions include physical (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease), mental (depression, anxiety) and functional conditions (walking, hearing, dementia).  While some of these health conditions are a result of natural causes, many may be attributed to individual behavior.

If Mary doesn’t change her behaviors such as diet, physician activity and managing her insulin, she will negate the good work of the providers in the hospital.  Did her behaviors cause her health conditions and thus her hospital stay?

Are behaviors the symptoms or cause?

To improve Mary’s health conditions, she receives obesity counseling, diabetes self-management education and nutrition therapy to address these behaviors:

  • Nutrition
  • Physical Activity
  • Medication adherence
  • Treatment compliance
  • Adverse behaviors (including tobacco, alcohol, substance abuse)

We may believe Mary’s behaviors were the cause and if she doesn’t improve, it is not the results of her clinical care.

We are all familiar with the numerous studies that describe how behaviors cause poor health conditions. The correlation is so strong that the Center For Disease Control (CDC) developed a Health Risk Assessments (HRA) for physicians to capture patient behavior information to improve the treatment of patients. The CDC HRA has 33 questions with 18 related to health conditions and 15 related to patient behaviors. Medicare recommends this CDC HRA (or similar) be used by physicians as part of patient’s Annual Wellness Visits.

A study by the University of Wisconsin funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that the CDC HRA may be ignoring 50% of the determinants of health outcomes. A Health Affairs review of several studies shows that clinical care and behaviors represents only 50-60% of health outcomes. The three determinants of health missing are social, economic and environment. Did these determinants of health drive Mary’s behaviors, resulting in her health conditions causing her hospital stay?

Are social, economic & environment determinants the cause? 

Mary may need to care for her homebound spouse or lacks support if she needs help (social), or she can’t afford medicine or nutritional food (economic) or she lacks transportation and lives in an unsafe neighborhood (environment).

Mary’s clinical care to treat health conditions can be negated by her behaviors. Yet in some cases, the nutrition therapy, diabetes self-management education and weight loss counseling will be ineffective until the underlying social, economic and environment determinants are addressed.  Mary’s low-income and food insecurity makes her vulnerable to being overweight and obese with:

  • Limited resources and lack of access to healthy, affordable foods
  • Fewer opportunities for physical activity
  • Cycles of food deprivation and overeating
  • High levels of stress
  • Greater exposure to marketing of obesity-promoting products
  • Limited access to health care

The good news is that new Accountable Care (see Will Accountable Care Be A Game Changer?) incentives for providers have resulted in them trying to understand more than Mary’s health conditions and behaviors. For Accountable Care providers to be successful, they need to find and address the cause.  Innovative Accountable Care providers have improved patient outcomes and generated significant savings by addressing each of the determinants of health. They offer Respite Care to home-bound spouses like Mary’s husband so that Mary can take care of her health conditions and take a break. They help patients like Mary address the cost of managing multiple chronic conditions. They shift them to generic medicines, get them Medicaid coverage and connect them to prescription assistance programs offered by pharmaceutical companies.  They connect patients (and follow-up) with community social services such as Meals on Wheels, transportation services and help finding jobs and housing. They assign care managers to people like Mary to help her navigate the clinical care and social services.

Are still looking for the answer? Are We Treating Symptoms While Ignoring The Cause? The answer is likely sometimes. To begin to understand how often this happens, we’ll have to get to know patients better.  Providers in these new Accountable Care reimbursement models will begin doing more comprehensive patient assessments and will connect patients to the services they need.  Then we will begin to get a better understanding whether we are treating the cause or the symptom.

TAGGED:health reformHealthcarepatientsPhysicians
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025
recovering from injury
Rebuilding After Injury: Path to Physical and Emotional Recovery
News
June 22, 2025
scientist using microscope
When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
Global Healthcare
June 18, 2025

You Might also Like

Tell Your Story: 2013 Costs of Care Essay Contest Is Open!

September 13, 2013

Employer-Sponsored Insurance after Health Reform

April 21, 2011

Blister Pack Adoption Increases Medication Adherence, Save Lives

June 25, 2015
Best Practices for Healthcare UX Design
Technology

Best Practices for Healthcare UX Design

April 24, 2024
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?