Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different? [video]

It's already in your self-interest to be healthy. This is simply re-aligning the doctor's interest with your own. Financially speaking, it's in most western doctors' self-interest for you to be perpetually diseased. For example, doctors are often found receiving kickbacks for prescribing medicines or running certain expensive diagnostic tests.

How different would our system be if doctors had cause to participate in your wellness? Encourage people to stop drinking soda, to negotiate bulk gym memberships for all his clients, have a monthly newsletter full of healthful recipes, have a staff person call every few weeks and ask how you've been eating, exercising? Invite everyone on the newsletter to events like hiking, bike riding, nutrition classes, etc?

When you call her up and have questions about improving your lifestyle, diet, and exercise it's suddenly in her interest to spend time with you and give you expert information.

Suddenly doctors everywhere would change their positions on some political issues: AMA would push for better food quality laws (how about restricting hydrogenated oil and HFCS like nearly every other 1st world country has done?). We'd have a better chance to replace sugar and corn subsidies with more healthful alternatives.

Wow; this would be huge... and it'll won't happen anytime soon. Too much money is being made perpetuating the problems.