The Decisions We Make

 

Several years ago, the healthcare consulting firm that I owned and operated, American Healthcare Consulting LLC, was selected to do a financial, legal, and operational turnaround for a two-hospital system in the Northeast.  This assignment was on a par with mission impossible.  The organization had two days of cash on hand, 24 of the physicians on the medical staff were in harm’s way with the U.S. Attorney for Medicare Fraud and Abuse and the clinical outcomes were rather poor.

I served at interim CEO and put in a team equal to the challenge.  With the help of outside legal counsel, we were successful in negotiating a consent decree for each physician in trouble with the U.S. Attorney.  This may well be the most challenging assignment of my lifetime.  In my experience, physicians who have made mistakes, intentionally or unintentionally, behave like the rest of us.  They are in denial.  Facilitating a successful outcome with them is nearly impossible.

To make a long story short, we enjoyed enormous success in the nine months our team lived and worked there.  We were able to recruit a first-rate permanent management team, the cash position returned to normative levels, the clinical outcomes were dramatically improved, and the system operated profitably.  We made friends for life and we left.

We left with the expectation that the system would go on to operated imperatively in a successful manner.

Well, trouble in paradise.  As I understand it, conflict over operational decisions erupted on the management team.  There was conflict over whether to build an outpatient surgical center, should the system purchase physician practices and should the system build and operate more outpatient clinic to name a few.  Decisions were made.  The hospital system cratered financially.

The Board of Directors sold the system to a for-profit corporation who invested nearly $100,000,000 in capital to turnaround the healthcare system

 

again.  They brought in a new management team and took to the task and they failed.  Their investment was squandered.

The two hospitals and all their ancillary facilities have closed.  Every employee has lost their job and access to care has been severely limited to the communities served by one of these two hospitals.  For me, it is particularly sad because I feel like I wasted nine months of my life. 

So, what is the takeaway.  Whether it is in our personal lives or the decisions we make in business, those decisions really matter and have far reaching implications.  Unfortunately, many people have a decision-making strategy that goes something like this, “Ready, Fire, Aim”.  People who live like this must live with the consequences.

 

Jan Ricks Jennings

Senior Consultant

Senior Management Resources

Jan.Jennings@EagleTalons.net

JanJenningsBlog.Blogspot.com

724.733.0509 Office

412.913.0636 Cell

Healthcare Reform:  Ambiguity Squared

 

 

The healthcare executives we work with every day are concerned about healthcare reform.  They struggle with a dark looming future.

 

Some people we work with are very concerned that the United States of America cannot afford to spend 17.6 of gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare, according to the last reliable estimate in 2010.  Since that 2010 estimate, healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP has surely increased further.  It is predicted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that U.S. health care spending will reach 19.5 percent by 2017 if not sooner.  Interestingly, in the 50 years between 1960 and 2010 U.S. spending on health care grew from 5 percent to 17.6 of GDP percent in 2010. 

 

This is all fascinating.  If you look at healthcare spending around the world, the United States stands out as spending far more on healthcare than any other country on earth.  Our neighbor to the South, Mexico, spends 6.4 percent of its GDP on healthcare.  Our neighbor to the North, Canada, spends 10 percent of GDP on healthcare.  Much has been said about the healthcare delivery system in the United Kingdom.  The Brits, Scots and Northern Ireland combined spend 8.7 percent of their GDP on healthcare.

 

As a matter of fact, the highest spending on healthcare after the United States is the Netherlands at 12 percent of GDP.

 

Most healthcare executives we interact with are profoundly confused with respect to what actions should be taken next.  As a consequence of this confusion, most leaders in healthcare administration are unsure of what next steps should be taken to protect their hospital or health care system.

 

In some healthcare markets we see an arms race unlike anything that anyone should be forced to watch.  Dr. Atul Gowande, Professor at Harvard University has written on this topic with far more eloquence than anything you will read here.  He compares two similar towns in South Texas where the strategies by local providers are remarkably different.  In South Texas Town Number One there is an effort to make healthcare affordable, reasonable, cost justified and of the highest quality.  In the other South Texas town the providers are engaged in an all-out war.  Technology, both diagnostic and therapeutic is being purchased without regard to community costs.  As a consequence, costs are higher, and there is no evidence that care is superior to South Texas town Number One.

 

There is unbelievable gridlock between the President of the United States and the U.S. House of Representatives regarding what might be done to reach a deal on the entire federal budget.  There appears to be minimal doubt that healthcare spending is going to be trimmed in ways that are completely unimaginable.  There are straws in the wind.  On Saturday, December 1, President Obama trimmed $700 million in care for patients battling AIDS.  Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) has openly offered that Medicare and Medicaid spending must be reduced.

 

In the mix is the uncertainty over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Generally referred to as Obamacare, even by President Obama, the legislation is going back to the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if certain components of Obamacare are constitutional.  Looked at it in the most favorable manner, Obamacare is little more than insurance reform.  The quality and patient satisfaction components of current and past legislation wears “soft shoes” when it comes to the real issues facing health care consumers.

 

What are you or the other members of your management team doing to prepare for the future?  When I was a rookie in healthcare administration, one of my mentors shared with me a definition of “planning”.  It went something like this, “Planning is the cooperative participation with the inevitable”. 

 

Why is so little being done to prepare for an altered financial state in healthcare?  There is no shortage of dissipated energy.  Physician practices are being purchased left and right.  Hospitals are being herded together with very little known regarding the future.  The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Inspector General, hospital boards of directors, organized medical staffs and hospital CEO’s are abuzz with “buckets full of busy”.  Home health agencies, long-term care organizations, both not-for-profit and for-profit are busily preparing for an avalanche of clients as the baby boom generation starts to enter retirement. 

 

The baby boom generation was born between 1946 and 1965.  It is the largest cohort in United States demographic measurements.   The pressure on the Medicare Program is enormous.  There are currently five gainfully employed individuals supporting one person on Medicare.  This number will be four gainfully employed individuals to support one person on Medicare by the end of 2013.

 

The Institute of Medicine has done two major studies and estimates that the U.S. hospital and health systems accidentally kill approximately 100,000 patients each year.  There is no one on earth who really knows how many people are killed as a consequence of being admitted to a U.S. Hospital. 

 

 

 

Dr. Martin Makary, Professor at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center has documented in a new book, Unaccountable that the fifth leading cause of death in the United States is simply being admitted to a hospital. 

Putting a human face on this shocking and tragic statistic, Luis Fabregas has documented in a new book entitled, A Transplant for Katy the unnecessary death of Ms. Katy Miller, a patient of the UPMC Montiefore Hospital Transplant Center as a consequence of surgical mismanagement.

What can be done?  Most healthcare executives we interact with are extremely busy.  There is no clear direction. How should the U.S. healthcare delivery system be organized, financed, insured and operated? 

 

The U.S. healthcare delivery system is likely to be crushed by an increase in costs and a reduction in revenue from all sources. 

 

Many healthcare executives yearn for retirement.  Young people in healthcare administration are riding a horse of unbelievable uncertainty. 

 

Some experts argue that less diagnostic and therapeutic efforts would improve the quality, satisfaction and overall outcomes within the healthcare industry.  Other experts argue that health care is no different from any other service or commodity.  Let the free market reign. The patient is caught between the raging forces of ever changing health insurance rules and regulations, physicians, hospitals, home health agencies, long term care facilities and many more providers of health care services.  Where does the typical consumer go for clarity of direction with respect to the simple basics of personal care?

 

The challenges we face are cosmic to miniscule.  On one end of the spectrum is the challenge of organizing the U.S. health care delivery system, how to pay for it and what workers within the industry should be paid.  On the microscopic level, it is enormously challenging to require health care workers to wash their hands when managing patient care. 

 

At some point in the future, the leadership will emerge to make some sense out of this disorganized chaos.  As of 2012, it is very unclear where this leadership might emerge.  In the meantime, we continue to muddle through from day to day with very little direction.

 

Jan Ricks Jennings, MHA, LFACHE

Senior Consultant

Senior Management Resources, LLC

 

Jan.Jennings@EagleTalons.net

 

JanJenningsBlog.Blogspot.com

 

724.733.0409 Office

412.913.0636 Cell

 

 

 

  

 

Effective Relationships between Physicians and Nurses Leads to Better Outcomes

Effective physician-patient communication has been shown to positively influence health outcomes by increasing patient satisfaction, leading to greater patient understanding of health problems and treatments available, contributing to better adherence to treatment plans, and providing support and reassurance to patients.  Collaborative decision making enables physicians and patients to work as partners to achieve a mutual health goal. Trust within all areas of the physician-patient relationship is a critical factor that influences communication between both parties.

 

As health care transforms into a more personalized and patient-centered model, the physician-patient relationship will significantly shape health outcomes. The personalized health care model encourages collaboration among physicians and patients to create shared health goals and the cultivation of a health plan to address identified problems. By understanding the factors that influence patient-physician relationships, in the future, health care providers will be able to address some of the barriers that prevent the adoption of more personalized approaches to health care.

 

The patient is observed to acquire a passive role and the nurse an expert role with a maternalistic attitude. This relationship among others determines the capacity for autonomy in the decision making of patients. One of the many roles of professional nursing is to analyze the nurse-patient relationship and explore their implications for clinical practice, the impact on quality of care, and the decision-making capacity of patients.

 

Design: A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted. Settings and participants: Thirteen in-depth interviews with nurses and 61,484 nursing records from internal medicine and specialties departments in a general hospital from 2015–2016. Methods: A discourse analysis and triangulation for these sources were conducted. Results: The category elaborated from nursing records was defined according to the following codes: Good Patient, Bad patient, and Social Problem. Analysis of the interviews resulted in a category defined as patient as a passive object.

 

Discussion: A good nurse-patient relationship reduces the days of hospital stay and improves the quality and satisfaction of both. However, in contrast, the good relationship is conditioned by the patient’s submissive role. Conclusion: An equal distribution of power allows decisions about health and disease processes to be acquired by patients, autonomously, with the advice of professionals. The nurse-patient relationship should not pursue the change in values and customs of the patient but position the professional as a witness of the experience of the health and illness process in the patient and family.

What a shock.  If you treat people better, they do better clinically.  Most of us at one time or another have experienced great care and great caring.  Some of us have experienced great care and lousy caring.   It does make a difference.

 

Jan Ricks Jennings

        

 Jan Jennings

Senior Consultant

Senior Management Resources, LLC

Jan.Jennings@EagleTalons.net

JanJenningsBlog.Blogspot.com

 

724.733.0509 Office

412.913.0636 Cell

 

 

 

Why Good People do Dumb Things in Healthcare

 

Two years ago, I suffered a serious accident involving my right shoulder.  Because of Covid-19, I avoided doing anything about it for a long time.  There was a short window when it seemed that Covid-19 might be lessening, and I obtained a prescription for physical therapy.   I worked at it very hard but flunked out when my health insurance company determined I was not making progress fast enough and advised me to consult with an orthopedic surgeon for possible shoulder surgeon. 

I received a referral to an orthopedic surgeon, and he confirmed that my right should, and arm were very week, and he ordered a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure to determine if there was damage to my right shoulder that could be corrected surgically.

Yesterday I reported into my community hospital for my MRI, paid my $250,00 deductible and waited.  Like most people I tend to do what I am told when it comes to being directed by healthcare personnel.  I am quite differential. 

It turns out that the procedure is in two parts.  The first part is the injection of contrast material into my right should show up under the imaging of the MRI procedure.  There were two lovely people handling this first part and the only thing I was told to do was removed my shirt and put a gown.  I was also requested to remove my watch.

The technician put some lidocaine on my right should and proceeded to inject a need and induce a vial of contract material.  This technician was having difficult injecting the contrast material and blurted out, “Your shoulder is a mess.”  That comment was unprofessional.  I know I am not going to be given the results of my MRI procedure until I see my orthopedic surgeon in about a week.  Her clinical judgement should how have been shared with me and it certainly did not inspire confidence in what I was going through or my ultimate clinical outcome.

I should race to say that both individuals I was working with through stage one were lovely people, but it certainly could have been handled differently.

Stage two is the MRI procedure.   Again, there were two people handling me and the equipment.  I have worked in healthcare administration for over 50 years.  I am not expert at MRI, but I do have a minimal understanding of the dos and don’ts.  Remember, I called the MRI department a week in advance to find out what I should and should not wear.  So, we are close to starting and I shared with the technician just before she turned on the magnets that I wear knee braces due to a long period in my life when I was obese, and the braces were loaded with steel.  She was horrified and asked me to remove them.  I was only too happy to do so.  Also, I carry an Android cell phone in my right pocket, and I asked if I should remove it and she suggested I should do that.

So, the procedure last about 15 minutes.  I did what I was told to do and was advised that the imaging results were first class.

As I was getting off the MRI machine, the technician asked if I had anything in my pockets.  I said, “Yes, I have a wallet.”  She asked if I had any credit cards and I responded that I did.  She said, we probably accidentally demagnetized your credit cards and your will have to call the issuing banks to have them replaced.  I was not angry.  I just was stupefied after all my advance efforts to be properly prepared for this procedure at how many things could have been handled better.

Again, let me race to say that the two technicians in the MRI department were lovely people.

So, what do we learn?  Good people in healthcare do dumb things.  Why?  People get busy and fail to pay attention to detail.  God lives in the details because it is in the details where you find the truth.  

My experience is a microscopic example of what can happen in healthcare.  A systemic problem in hospitals is why we have failed to succeed to motivate middle class nurses to wash their hands.  Nosocomial infections in hospitals run rampant.

Winston Churchill wants said, “Americans always do the right thing after exhausting all of the other possibilities.”   We are still exhausting all the other possibilities.

 

Jan Ricks Jennings, MHA, LFACHE

Senior Consultant

Senior Management Resources, LLC

 

Jan.Jennings@EagleTalons.net

JanJenningsBlog.Blogspot.com

 

724.733.0509 Office

412.913.0636 Cell

 

 

 

                                                                       

Faith Based Healthcare and Persons of Faith in Healthcare                            

People of faith and organizations proclaiming faith always end up categorized by one of the religious congregations or societies. For those of us who have served in faith-based organizations or worked for people who wear their faith on their shirtsleeves, there is often disappointment and skepticism. Why? In Christian circles, is it not good enough that Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Episcopal organizations that operate hospitals and other healthcare institutions are living out the story of the Good Samaritan? After all, how good was the Good Samaritan? We only know one story of the way he conducted his life. At home, he may have been abusive to his wife. Who knows? We do know this. If he was a real human being, he had his own set of strengths and weaknesses.

For people of faith serving in the healthcare industry, there can be a personal sense of ministry in exercising medical, nursing, or even executive skill in serving God. When they choose to openly talk about their faith or religious life, we tend to hold them to a higher standard. This is probably not a good idea. Many are jaded by personal experience. The truth is we expect something more of religious organizations and people. Why? Well, we just do.

I work with an individual who claims to be an atheist. His life is bereft of any pretense that there is a higher power. The way he lives his life is consistent with his belief system. He is ruthless, self-absorbed and a moral reprobate. Most people really like him. There is no pretense . . . and he can be very charming while he drops that knife between someone’s shoulder blades. One thing is clear at all times, you know that his philosophy of life and faith (or lack thereof) is consistent with the way he lives his life.

I have been guilty of talking too much about my religious affiliation (Eastern Orthodoxy). I have noticed that it puts me in a position in which people expect more from me than others. The truth is that I am a flawed creature like everyone else. I carry a bag of personal and professional strengths to work everyday. Most days, I carry a heavier bag of personal and professional weaknesses.

I have become close friends with an Eastern Orthodox priest. I serve on the Board of Directors of a ministry he started forty years ago devoted to housing and healing. He refers to himself as the “country priest.” When I have discussed these concerns with him, he quips, “We all have a story and pretend that we don't .” It is an honest representation that these religious organizations and religious people have their strengths and weaknesses just like everyone else. Somewhere in our childhood development, most of us were encouraged to show deference, if not reverence, to people of faith. When we find out they are flawed in some way we are frequently surprised and disappointed.

Once I served a religiously sponsored hospital and was shocked to observe that there was behavior at work that was frequently petty, ruthless, ethically challenged and frequently wrong. Where was God when we needed Him or Her?

There was a time when I reported to an individual who wore his religious affiliation from head to toe. Every morning, even at work, he would read from a religious book, meditating on the Word of God. He was generous to a fault and was devoted to his religious organization as much as he was involved in his healthcare organization.

At a point during our relationship, I developed a cardiac illness with potentially life altering consequences. I did not hear from him for eight weeks. The hurt feelings were amplified by the visual recollection of him reading aloud from his meditation manual. His concern was that I would potentially become a financial liability to the organization. There was no concern demonstrated for me or my family. When his name comes up in healthcare circles, the typical reflection on him is this, “. . . that fellow can really hold a good grudge.” It is too bad. In many ways, this is the most generous person I know and was good to me in so many ways.

The essence of how we evaluate people is the way they conduct themselves in their personal and professional dealings. We really do not care very much about what their religious affiliation is or is purported to be. The cultural expectation that religious organizations and people of faith are going to be better than expected is unfortunate and unfair. Remember what the good “country priest” said, “We all have a story and pretend that we don’t.”

Jan Ricks Jennings, MHA, LFACHE

Senior Consultant

Senior Management Resources

, LLC

Jan.jennings@EagleTalons.com

JanJenningsBlog.Blogspot.com

Republished with permission from the Hospital News Group  ✅   

               

When we Harm A Patient Should we Apologize?

                                                               

We certainly would not send them a bill for poor care...or would we?

Last year I was visiting with a friend, a highly recognizable name in healthcare. He conveyed a personal story of a surgery performed that went horribly wrong, leaving his vision in one eye forever damaged. When the surgical mistake was “diagnosed,” it was the surgeon himself that brought to light his shortcomings. In a glib tone, he admitted his “hand slipped” and that this issue was detailed in the consent form. He promptly sent a bill to the appropriate health insurance company as well as to the patient for the co-pay expenses. As a result, the hospital where the surgical error occurred took a negotiated discount from charges as payment in full for the procedure.

The Hospital CEO -- well, he thought the surgical outcome was really “unfortunate.” The surgeon was disappointed; he said this case was one of only three times in his career he had permanently damaged a patient’s vision. No one thought an apology was in order. Both men are extremely well educated and trained, mannerly and respected in their professions. Both men would even apologize if they accidentally bumped into a little old lady in the grocery store. Permanently damage a man’s vision, and no apology is in sight -- no pun intended.

In October, 2006, Newsweek published ten case studies directed toward fixing America’s healthcare system. The first case study was “Facing Up to Mistakes.” A patient of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital relayed her nightmare of enduring a cardiac arrest when an anesthesiologist injected a routine nerve block and everything went wrong. The patient intuitively knew that something horrible had happened and felt betrayed by the hospital for not being candid with her about her adverse medical event. The anesthesiologist wrote the patient, accepted responsibility for the mistake, and apologized. As a result, the hospital developed a new system of patient safety. The patient offered her forgiveness to the doctor and, more importantly, said, “I felt like I had my life back.”

Not everyone gets their entire life back, even when they survive poor care. In December, I received a letter from a woman who read an article I had previously written and published with regard to hospital-acquired infections.

Mrs. Johnson offered the following story pertaining to her husband’s care (Mr. Johnson) following a laparoscopic colon resection at Alamo General Hospital. Forgive me for changing the patient’s name and the hospital name. Aside from all of the legal problems such a disclosure would unleash, it would also detract from making this central point: Patients are routinely injured or killed in American hospitals; no one apologizes; the hospital, physicians and surgeons bill the insurance company, and, if necessary, the patient or family is sent a bill for co-pay obligations. It is not possible to make up this stuff.

Mr. Johnson opted for a laparoscopic colon resection because the risk of infection was lower. The surgeon informed Mr. and Mrs. Johnson that the surgical procedure was a “success.”

Notwithstanding, Mrs. Johnson was concerned. With no training in medical or hospital care, she perceived the nurses were understaffed and overworked. “There were simply not enough “hands” to cover the surgical floor most of the time.” All hospital personnel were courteous but frazzled.

There were hand sanitizers in Mr. Johnson’s room, and Mrs. Johnson noticed that nurses and physicians frequently washed their hands. They did not always wash their hands; but after all, they frequently washed their hands. Aside from observed hand washing irregularities, Mrs. Johnson noted numerous unsanitary practices; most caused by the sense of chaos on this surgical nursing floor.


Here are several direct quotes from Mrs. Johnson. “In a matter of a few days, there was something not quite right going on in the area of his incision. As his discomfort grew, he began complaining of pain and nausea and was eventually given some medicines allowing him to be able to rest. Since it was evening, I went home for the night. Little did I know that the next day would prove to be the real beginning of the nightmare.”

"By the time I arrived at Alamo General the next morning, my husband was in severe pain and fighting a spiking temperature. Since it was the Easter weekend, staff was really limited. Eventually, the nurse and I had a talk, and I demanded that a doctor look at my husband. I was not going to allow this to go unchecked.”

"The doctor who finally came to check in on my husband (at the nurse's insistence) barely looked at the wound site. He was nice, but he was not as concerned as the nurse and I. He tried to assure me that there was nothing unusual about the situation. He did not convince me.”

"My husband continued telling the nurses of his concerns that evening and throughout the night; but upon standing up from his bed the next morning to go to into the bathroom, he felt that his gown was wet. When he looked down, he watched as a bloody pool formed on the floor at his feet. A nurse who was passing by his door saw what was going on and quickly attended to him.”

"Shortly thereafter, three doctors were in my husband's room, the young doctor from the day before being one of them. With scissors and nothing to numb the wound site, they proceeded to reopen the wound which produced more puss and fluids than they were able to contain with the handfuls of gauze they had brought along. Right there, on the hospital bed, in a very non-sterile setting, my husband's very infected wound was treated. It almost caused him to lose consciousness and almost caused me to completely lose my temper.”

"I became the one who had to pack the wound, administer the medication and change the dressing for the next month.”

"The health care professions are demanding, indeed. But when there are not enough nurses and nursing assistants on every shift, there simply is not time to employ the proper procedures for fighting infections. The visitors to the patient rooms must also be involved and educated on the prevention of spreading germs to the patient. It cannot be left entirely to the nurses and the physicians."

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson finally left the hospital. As Mrs. Johnson started to drive her husband home, they both noted a banner hanging on the front of the hospital proclaiming that the hospital was one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation or words to that effect.

In closing, Mrs. Johnson said, “My husband recovered, though he still suffers with pain occasionally. As he likes to say, "I had to get out of that hospital before they killed me!" His sense of humor is still intact.”

Indeed, Mr. Johnson might be that one unlucky hospital patient in twenty that acquires an infection as a consequence of being admitted to a hospital. Here are several pertinent facts. Mr. Johnson was otherwise healthy when he arrived at the hospital. He did not have an infection when he arrived at the hospital. He acquired a life threatening infection while in the hospital. No one apologized or even offered a single word of regret. All hospital bills were submitted for payment with dispatch. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have never contacted an attorney and do not intend to sue anyone. They are just thankful that Mr. Johnson is still alive.

Having conducted interviews with several dozen hospital CEO’s (not very scientific or statistically reliable), they think Alamo General Hospital is the norm and that Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital is the outlier. Among other things, they point to the advice and counsel from the hospital attorneys. Admit nothing. In 1970 there was a memorable movie by the name of Love Story. Torturing the most famous line from the film, “Providing poor patient care is never having to say you are sorry.” The American hospital may not always be able to provide the best care. One element of reform that Newsweek had right is we need to be able to face up to our mistakes. While it is easier said than done, it still should be done. If we are to maintain the reservoir of goodwill that the “Johnson” families of America extend to us, we will need to face up to our mistakes sooner rather than 

Jan Ricks Jennings, MHA, LFACHE

Senior Consultant

Senior Management Services, LLC

Jan.Jennings@EagleTalons.net

JanJenningsBlog.Blogspot.com✅

                                                               Our Complex Food Supply

 

The second most intimate thing you can do is have a meal with another person.  The joy of eating cannot be overstated.   Not only is it joyful, but it is also essential to supporting the continuation of life.

 

For example, if you wiggle your index finger you may or may not know that this is enabled by an extremely complex electrical system in the human body which is a balance of potassium and sodium.  One of these complexities is that the body stores sodium and you can go for an extended period without input of sodium or simple salt.  Potassium is more complex.  Potassium washes out of the human system in approximately 24 hours and must be constantly resupplied.  While potassium comes from many sources, the most common source and one or the richest sources is the banana.  There is approximately 1,000 mg. of potassium in the average size banana, it takes three years to grow and is relatively inexpensive.  It may well be God’s perfect food.

It is an absolute fact that many acute heart conditions originate from a shortage of potassium. Several years ago, it was horrifying to observe on television school children in Appalachia who were shown a banana and they had no idea what it was.

My own Mother was seeing her primary care physician and he oversubscribed Hydrochlorothiazide to lower her blood pressure.  Consequently, she became potassium deprived and her heart was severely damaged.

Now the rough stuff.  Some processed meats, e.g., hot dogs, hamburger meat, sausage contain up to 32 noxious chemicals with no benefit to the consumer of these products.  In fact, these food additives are thought to be linked to many of the common diseases that plague American people including heart disease, cancer and diabetes.  These products also can be

heavy laden with unnecessary fat and these meats can be loaded with fillers like soy and wheat which offer no nutrition and may be harmful.

Worse, many food products include peanut additives, wheat additives to which many people have severe allergies.  Many people are lactose intolerant and may or may not be aware that the food they consume contains lactose.   Our  microbiome have been significantly altered, and plastic is in everything we eat including the fish we eat.  It is thought that the average American eats the equivalent of a credit card in plastic each week.

What can you do about this to protect yourself and the people you love?  Well, data becomes information, information becomes knowledge and knowledge becomes power.   The more knowledge you have about the food supply the better choices you can make in purchasing the food you consume.  When it comes to purchasing food there is probably no better example of the power of caveat emptor, i.e., the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made.

 

Jan Ricks Jennings

Senior Consultant

Senior Management Resources, LLC

 

Jan.Jennings@EagleTalons.net

JanJennings.Blog.Blogspot.com