5 Ways Preventive Medicine Stands Out from Alternatives

“You know what they call alternative medicine that’s been proven to work? - Medicine.” ~ Tim Minchin

Preventive Medicine Defined

Let’s start with the apparent bias from this article as someone who is a part of Tiger Medical and believes that preventive medicine can benefit many people.

With that being said, this article will discuss five ways preventive medicine differs from traditional medicine/other alternatives.

The American College of Preventive Medicine defines Preventive Medicine as: “Preventive medicine (or preventive care medicine) consists of a wide variety of characteristics, but with a preventative disease, disability, and death as core components across all areas of practice:

Preventive medicine specialists work directly with patients to prescribe clinical preventive medicine and lifestyle-based interventions to prevent disease.
Preventive medicine physicians work with governments, businesses, health systems, and more to understand the needs of their communities and develop policy and population health practices to prevent disease and improve health at the population level.”

The 5 Ways Preventive Stands Out

1. Science-Based Approach

In a society of misinformation and unlimited access to many “best practices” for health, it can all be incredibly confusing and overwhelming.

So with the proper preventive medicine approach and adequately trained physicians overseeing the quality of care and treatment plan, you can be assured of getting the correct information.

2. Reactive or Proactive?

Say you’re buying a new home (yes, even with interest rates being the way they are right now). You want to be in this home for the next 15-30 years. You have spent countless hours on Zillow and Realtor.com.

Finally, you’ve found the perfect house, but the roof needs repair. Would you want to take care of that roof before moving in for safety and security, or will you wait until you experience one leak or multiple leaks before addressing the core issue?

This may be an exaggeration, but it shows the difference between preventive medicine and the current healthcare status in the U.S.

In the U.S., our highly trained and excellent physicians usually only see you when something is wrong or your “roof is leaking significantly.”

The repairs can be costly and time-consuming. With preventive medicine, you’re looking at addressing your “roof” before it leaks.

Preventive medicine looks at the individual to create solutions and a treatment plan to address specific symptoms when something becomes an issue.

3. Accountability and Follow-Up

Many preventive medicine practices incorporate or offer coaching as a part of their services and plans.

This is a differentiator to the usual approach because having a coach help you include the physician’s treatment plan will help address obstacles/hurdles one might have with implementation.

This differs from the traditional model, where you meet with your healthcare provider twice a year.

4. Chronic Health Impact

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists the five leading causes of death in the US as heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory diseases.

Chronic diseases like these account for seven out of ten deaths in the US.

Preventive measures like testing and imaging are essential in preventive medicine, but lifestyle factors like exercise, tobacco use, diet, etc., are critical aspects to consider for preventative health.

5. Delivery

This is quite simple. Preventive medicine can be delivered in several ways, whereas in traditional medicine, you go to the office to see your doctor in person for all your visits and most needs.

Telehealth has become more popular for your practitioner. For many preventive health practitioners, it can all be done virtually if desired or with limited travel for specific tests, etc.

Tiger Takeaways

We are at a point in our society where many are riddled with chronic illness. Fortunately, there is a growing shift towards more wellness measures being implemented or employers helping to provide stress reduction and sleep improvement exercise opportunities for their employees.

So the question is, why wait?

Check out some of our other articles regarding lifestyle information.

If you’re looking to dive all in, hop on a consultation call with us. We’d be happy to hear your story and share why the Tiger Program may be the right choice for you in preventive care.

For further reading, view the following articles on our learning center:

You have what it takes inside you to make a definite choice that will change the future trajectory of your health.

Our team at Tiger Medical has the experience, clinical skills, and coaching acumen to help you get your health and energy back.

To talk to one of our professionals, click here to schedule your call!