Goodbye, Reactive Sick Care—hello, Preventive Well Care
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$1.5 TRILLIONAnnual spending on well-care products & experiences in America
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$1 TRILLIONFood-related diabetes & cardiovascular healthcare cost
2021
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12 MILLIONAmerican lives lost to drug use
2021
Until now, modern medicine has mostly waited until a person gets sick and symptoms are manifesting before intervening. In recent years, this dynamic has been changing as consumers have demonstrated an intense interest in staying well and avoiding illness. This shift toward prevention has spawned a massive global industry, and a bounty of products, technologies and experiences based on increasingly sophisticated wellness science. This holistic new approach to wellness combines fitness, nutrition, sleep, mindfulness and myriad lifestyle choices. Americans spend $1.5 trillion a year on well-care products and experiences, an amount that will double in the coming decade.
The notion that prevention is better than cure is hundreds of years old. However, we still get paid when the patient gets sick. We need to be incentivized to keep people well. When we change what gets reimbursed, we will change the system.
Dr. Vijay Iyer, MD, PhD
Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine, Associate Professor of Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences