The West is drowning in healthcare costs.
Meanwhile the developing world runs on flowcharts.
And it works.
In resource-limited countries, healthcare isn’t built around specialists.
It’s built around guidelines and partially skilled health workers.
WHO’s IMCI and IMAI protocols let nurses, caregivers, and community health workers handle routine cases.
They don’t need to wait for a doctor.
They don’t send every case up the chain.
They follow structured decision trees. Step by step, symptom by symptom.
They can do their own tests…
They treat what they can…
They escalate when they must…
And they keep hospitals clear for the people who truly need them.
Meanwhile, in the West?
Everything is a referral.
Everything is a specialist.
Everything is an appointment that should have been handled on the spot.
We don’t have a doctor shortage.
We have a system that refuses to use the workforce we already have.
What if we borrowed from the developing world instead of dismissing it?
What if we built a Western decision support system for frontline healthcare workers?
What if we let them do more safely, within guidelines and structured oversight?
We don’t need more specialists.
We need smarter, more empowered frontline care.
And the sooner we change that, the better.
