Bob Haase Another Can Of Worms

Medical Questionnaires, Profiling, and Trust

I have received four mailings from the Myers Group  asking me to fill out a questionnaire about my health care and the condition of my health.  The letter indicates that filling out the survey is not mandatory but they keep sending more questionnaires.  What is this costing taxpayers to mail out all these surveys and compile the information?  How will this information really be used?  Part of my problem is that I don’t trust how the government will use this information.  I say this because of the content of the questions being asked.  It really does not do a good job of accessing the quality of my health care but rather information such as the following:

            – What is the combined family income for the last 12 months?

            – Do you live alone or with others and in what kind of home?

            – What is the highest grade you received?

            – Do you smoke every day, some days, or not at all?

            – Do you have difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions

There are not many questions about the quality of health care received from my health care plan or providers, but rather my personal health.  I also get continued request from my health insurance provider to have a visiting nurse come to the house to access our personal health.  They asked similar questions the last time they came and were more concerned about personal health than the quality of care being provided to us.  Will this information be used against me or my wife regarding future treatment?

I am fortunate to have a good doctor and feel that I am getting quality medical care.  There are others that I know that are not this lucky.  We spend more on medical care in this country than anywhere else in the world, but yet we rank quite low in personal health care compared to many other countries.  I wish they were more concerned about providing quality care to everyone that needs it rather than sending out all these surveys.  As I mentioned before I don’t trust how this information will be used and I don’t think my response to the questions asked will improve the quality of health care in America. 

I am very proactive with preventative health and am fortunate to be in good health.  Most medical care is reactive rather than proactive and this needs to be changed.  There are also a lot of people that are not receiving the medical care that they need and deserve, but I don’t think the money spent on these surveys or home health visits will change that because the right questions are not being asked. 

The only thing worse than me not trusting that the intent of these questionnaires and home health visits are ethical and useful is people not receiving the medical care they need and deserve. 

Bob Haase is the host of “Outdoors Thursday” heard Thursday mornings at 9:10 a.m. on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ.