Consumers with Knee Pain Searching for Answers

A week ago I was intrigued with a particular presentation that I researched to respond to Tim Richardson on episode of care/condition specific potential payment systems.

I found a 2008 presentation by Lanny L. Johnson, MD.  (Lanny Johnson, MD is probably well known in the circle of orthopaedic surgeons for his work in arthroscopy.)  Three slides really had me thinking and wondering about what motivates someone.

Within this presentation, it was news to me that surgeons lack surgical candidates.  There are authors here (obviously not me) that know the financial surgical costs and incidence of surgery occurring today.  To be fair, and to take into account the work of Johnson, the focus would need to be the knee.  It would be interesting to know the incidence of arthroscopic surgery on the knee combined with information as to whether the surgical candidates are appropriate candidates (in light of recent research suggesting arthroscopic surgery is not effective for moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee).

The abstract of this article on the ability to diagnose an anterior cruciate ligament tear or a meniscal tear via medical history alone appeared interesting.  I am excited about the prospect of using data to assist in diagnosing along with the capability to accurately diagnose because this avenue of thought can reduce costs by eliminating costly diagnostic testing.

It appeared to me that Johnson had a vested interest in reaching out to consumers to assist them when a knee problem occurred.  Introducing... Free Knee.  So, okay, I took some liberties and became a fake patient.  Why not?  I mean, I treat enough people with knee pain during the day that I could pretend to be someone and respond to a survey accordingly.  How about patellofemoral pain as a problem?  I decided that I'd pretend I had that issue.  If this works, here is my "data" on my condition:  data.  Honestly, the system did a great job asking questions overall.  I had issues with the "pain with physical therapy" area and the survey could be changed to be less "medical terminologied" but other than that it was reasonable, thorough and captured what physical therapists all capture in our subjective portion. 

So, I'm gullible.  I'll admit it, I am.  I was excited to see what Free Knee would tell me about my knee pain.  I went from being impressed to being sorely disappointed in less than 30 seconds when my personalized report appeared.  Don't ask me why I thought the report might have been different.  I believe people are inherently good, not selfish and try to serve others.  Well, the finding...  it is probable (89% probability) that you have a surgically treatable condition in your involved knee.  Imagine that?  Since when has patellofemoral knee pain had that high of a probability for needing surgical intervention??  Apparently, the motivation was more self-serving for the orthopaedic surgeons and the "news" that they needed more surgical candidates.  Obviously, the goal isn't focused on the appropriate patient at the right time.

Trust... how will consumers learn to trust anyone?  Free Knee really did create the impression of thorough combined with an ambiance that it just couldn't be wrong with it's final determination of what would help me get rid of my knee pain.

The internet is great... but buyer beware.  As consumers use the internet as a tool to help themselves, how can we position ourselves to not be self-serving, but really serve the needs of consumers?  And, how do we approach such situations if a patient were to bring in a computer generated report on their condition?

~Selena