The Utah Medical Card program has now been around for several years. It is helping tens of thousands of patients struggling to find relief through more traditional treatments feel better on a daily basis. And yet, while helping people feel better is at the root of the Med Card concept, there is so much more to it than that.
From our perspective, the Med Card concept is incredibly transformative to Western (allopathic) medicine. It is one of the key ingredients we have been missing in our healthcare system for decades. And now that so many states have adopted the concept, everything wrapped up in the Medical Card philosophy should ultimately change the American healthcare system for the better.
Among the many ways the Medical Card program has transformed healthcare in Utah is its encouragement of plant-based medicines. Med Card holders in the state have access to medicines that are not available through traditional means. These are medicines that cannot be purchased at the drug store or at the local grocery store pharmacy.
Plant-based medicines have been utilized by Eastern cultures for millennia. They used to be fairly common in North America at one time, too. We got away from them when allopathic medicine and pharmacology took root here. But now we are starting to see a return to the plant-based realm, and that's good.
The Med Card concept is also transformative in the sense that it seeks to put patients in control of their own health and wellbeing. Although most doctors and nurses have very good intentions, there is a tendency in allopathic medicine to shut patients out. They become merely recipients of care rather than active partners in their own health.
Medical Cards are somewhat unique to Western medicine because they aren't prescriptions. They are state-issued licenses to use plant-based medicines. Doctors can only recommend the medicines; they cannot issue Med Cards or write prescriptions. Ultimately, this means that a patient with a Med Card must take charge of their own health.
Incidentally, the KindlyMD team wants exactly that for each and every patient. We do not want to dictate to you how you should care for yourself. We are here to partner with you as a member of your healthcare team. At every level, we want you to be in charge.
Promoting a holistic approach to patient care is yet another way the Medical Card concept is transforming healthcare. Allopathic medicine has a tendency to treat diseases and symptoms as largely physical problems. But proponents of the Med Card concept are more likely to go beyond the mere physical. Practitioners prefer a holistic approach, which is to say treating the whole person rather than just the physical body alone.
Managing persistent pain is a particularly good example here. Pain is influenced by biological, psychological, emotional, and social factors. The point of issuing a Med Card is to address the biological and psychological factors. But clinics like KindlyMD also include other services to help address the emotional and social aspects. We treat the whole person rather than just their pain.
We have heard the Medical Card concept referred to as a 'new' way of looking at Western medicine. We do not consider it new at all. Rather, we consider it a different way of approaching healthcare. Both the concept and the principles behind it have been a long time coming. Now that they are here, we are witnessing a transformation within our healthcare system.
