Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

It’s time to stop comparing health care to manufacturing

Hans Duvefelt, MD
Physician
November 10, 2015
Share
Tweet
Share

From ancient times, doctors have appreciated that, for all their similarities, no two patients are exactly alike. This understanding is what made physicians act like, and earn society’s respect as, professionals.

The commercialization of health care has brought in managers from other industries and other branches of academia, and their rise to power has been predicated on their ability to treat patients and doctors not as individuals, but as small cogs in the new health care industry.

There is no doubt that health care today is an industry, but I disagree with the notion that it can be closely compared with manufacturing.

In manufacturing, every aspect of production is built around standardized processes and standardized raw materials. But in health care, the “raw materials,” people with illnesses and risk factors we doctors seek to mitigate, are all different. And the processes often involve judgement calls and compromises between different objectives when patients have more than one disease.

Compare this to two types of carpentry:

Some carpenters build houses on empty plots of land, according to detailed architectural drawings, using standard sized lumber, creating homes that are identical, square and uniform. Novice carpenters learn relatively quickly how to build such homes, because the manufacturing process is consistent and predictable from one brand new home to the next.

Health care is more like an old house restoration than manufacturing. Put another way, real patients are more like old houses than new tract homes.

I have recently had reason to watch a master carpenter and a master painter turn a 1790 house and barn from a neglected near-dilapidated state into an inviting and comfortable home. Almost everything these two craftsmen did was improvised. Every flaw or asymmetry they tackled inevitably lead to another one that could not have been anticipated, let alone described with enough detail in architectural drawings or engineering diagrams for someone without decades of experience to tackle. Every decision these men made almost automatically and with little fanfare was a judgement call or an impromptu recreation of some antique detail; the carpenter chose lines to work from so that the house seemed straighter to the eye than if he had followed his level, and the painter filled gaps in the antique moldings with joint compound in a way that made the house seem tidy and whole but still showing its age.

When restoring a 200-year-old house, there are no perfect squares or true plumb lines. The walls are never even, and the floors are never level. But that doesn’t make such a house less livable, or less beautiful. It adds to its value. Manufacturing principles don’t apply when you set out to restore an old house, and the same holds true in holistic primary health care. Putting new drywall over a wavy plaster and lath wall is quicker than preparing the original surface for fresh paint, but the result breathes life and history into spaces that are now ready to live on with renewed purpose and dignity.

In medicine, whether it is doing plastic surgery, treating aging patients with three or four chronic medical conditions or counseling a patient facing life-changing circumstances, the manufacturing model can only cover the most rudimentary basics. It is the skill and experience of the practitioner in balancing all the variable manifestations of disease in real people that makes their treatment a source of healing.

Even the most predictable patient care processes, like taking out somebody’s appendix, don’t quite lend themselves to the manufacturing analogy. In medicine, the first step is not how to begin to remove the appendix; it is making the decision whether to do it in the first place. That isn’t always a straightforward, scientific decision, even with today’s imaging tests. It sometimes comes down to a judgement call here, too.

“A Country Doctor” is a family physician who blogs at A Country Doctor Writes:.

Prev

4 questions about Theranos that are actually worth discussing

November 10, 2015 Kevin 0
…
Next

Should tackling be removed from youth football?

November 10, 2015 Kevin 0
…

ADVERTISEMENT

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
4 questions about Theranos that are actually worth discussing
Next Post >
Should tackling be removed from youth football?

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Hans Duvefelt, MD

  • The art of asking where it hurts

    Hans Duvefelt, MD
  • Thinking like a plumber when adjusting medications

    Hans Duvefelt, MD
  • The American food conspiracy

    Hans Duvefelt, MD

Related Posts

  • How social media can help or hurt your health care career

    Health eCareers
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • It’s time for a comprehensive universal health care system in America

    Sagar Chapagain, MD
  • It’s time we think about health care differently

    Praveen Suthrum
  • Turn physicians into powerful health care influencers

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Health care needs more physician CEOs

    Alexi Nazem, MD

More in Physician

  • Complicity vs. protest: a doctor’s choice

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • When cancer costs too much: Why financial toxicity deserves a place in clinical conversations

    Yousuf Zafar, MD
  • The hidden rewards of a primary care career

    Jerina Gani, MD, MPH
  • Why doctors regret specialty choices in their 30s

    Jeremiah J. Whittington, MD
  • 10 hard truths about practicing medicine they don’t teach in school

    Steven Goldsmith, MD
  • How I learned to love my unique name as a doctor

    Zoran Naumovski, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • The human case for preserving the nipple after mastectomy

      Thomas Amburn, MD | Conditions
    • Nuclear verdicts and rising costs: How inflation is reshaping medical malpractice claims

      Robert E. White, Jr. & The Doctors Company | Policy
    • IMGs are the future of U.S. primary care

      Adam Brandon Bondoc, MD | Physician
    • Complicity vs. protest: a doctor’s choice

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why I left the clinic to lead health care from the inside

      Vandana Maurya, MHA | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Health equity in Inland Southern California requires urgent action

      Vishruth Nagam | Policy
    • How restrictive opioid policies worsen the crisis

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • Why pain doctors face unfair scrutiny and harsh penalties in California

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life

      Dharam Persaud-Sharma, MD, PhD | Physician
    • What street medicine taught me about healing

      Alina Kang | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • Complicity vs. protest: a doctor’s choice

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How physician burnout and system reform are shaping the future of U.S. health care

      Irim Salik, MD | Policy
    • How nature is inspiring the future of pain medicine

      Varun Mangal | Conditions
    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN can use worldwide [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • When cancer costs too much: Why financial toxicity deserves a place in clinical conversations

      Yousuf Zafar, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 3 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • The human case for preserving the nipple after mastectomy

      Thomas Amburn, MD | Conditions
    • Nuclear verdicts and rising costs: How inflation is reshaping medical malpractice claims

      Robert E. White, Jr. & The Doctors Company | Policy
    • IMGs are the future of U.S. primary care

      Adam Brandon Bondoc, MD | Physician
    • Complicity vs. protest: a doctor’s choice

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why I left the clinic to lead health care from the inside

      Vandana Maurya, MHA | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Health equity in Inland Southern California requires urgent action

      Vishruth Nagam | Policy
    • How restrictive opioid policies worsen the crisis

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • Why pain doctors face unfair scrutiny and harsh penalties in California

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life

      Dharam Persaud-Sharma, MD, PhD | Physician
    • What street medicine taught me about healing

      Alina Kang | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • Complicity vs. protest: a doctor’s choice

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • How physician burnout and system reform are shaping the future of U.S. health care

      Irim Salik, MD | Policy
    • How nature is inspiring the future of pain medicine

      Varun Mangal | Conditions
    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN can use worldwide [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • When cancer costs too much: Why financial toxicity deserves a place in clinical conversations

      Yousuf Zafar, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

It’s time to stop comparing health care to manufacturing
3 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...