We know what patients need, but it sadly seems like no one cares. While the whole world of business, physicians, and programmers have been busy competing to create electronic health records, we have been working on figuring out the science behind medical treatments, because that’s what we care about.
What the patient needs to know is: “the net treatment benefit as summarized from the existing medical literature, using evidence-based medicine, for patients like them who have been treated in the past.” That’s a long description, so we call it the Treatment Score.
We want to help patients. We know the problems:
- 88% of patients are health illiterate
- Physicians are health illiterate too. In a study of 531 physicians, 60 – 80% could not correctly identify treatment effects. (Do clinicians understand the size of treatment effects? B. Johnston et al. CMAJ 10/26/2015.)
We believe we have a solution for patient advocates, patients, and doctors. We want to solve the 88% health illiteracy rate and we will do this by creating a treatment list with Treatment Scores for every diagnosis. But it’s a big job.
Imagine that you are diagnosed with a brain tumor. There are 3 types of surgery, and there are 7 radiation protocols with various radiation machines. How will you decide what to do? The starting point should be a summary of the existing medical evidence for each treatment which is the Treatment Score.
With the brain tumor diagnosis example above, it has 10 treatments. Each of those treatments has 10 vital statistics. Each of those vital statistics has 10 references. Each of those references has 10 variables. That’s 10 times 10 times 10 times 10 = 10,000 pieces of information that must be digested. Wouldn’t it be helpful if there was a clear way to understand this information?
Did you know we don’t have complete lists of treatments for every disease? Ideally, your doctor would be able to give you a list of every treatment for every disease, and also give a Treatment Score based on the existing medical literature.
In the future, we believe all non-profits and patient leaders will come to feel it is their responsibility to help patients know the treatment list and Treatment Scores for their patients. Let’s create treatment transparency and empower patients.
For those who need a bit more information, here is an example about pancreatic cancer: Solving Health Illiteracy: Pancreatic Cancer, Steve Jobs, & Smart Phones
If you’d like to learn more about Treatment Scores, you can connect with them here:
Connect with the creators: Stephen Fitzmeyer, MD and Bradley Hennenfent, MD
REFERENCES
* “From appropriate care to evidence-based medicine.” Balas EA. Pediatr Ann. 1998 Sep; 27(9):581-4.
** “Doctors Said Immunotherapy Would Not Cure Her Cancer. They Were Wrong.”
By Gina Kolata. Feb. 19, 2018. New York Times.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © Treatment Scores, Inc. 2018. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER
You must always see your own licensed medical physician for diagnosis and treatment. Treatment Scores are for informational purposes only. We DO NOT provide medical advice, nor do we constitute a patient-physician relationship. We make no warranties whatsoever.
