Chronic issues are on the rise in the USA. Most would go away if we made some simple lifestyle changes, but knowing where to start is a bit overwhelming. Dr. Jon Van Der Veer explains the numerous environmental challenges thrown at us and explains why short touch points with your doctor aren’t sufficient in changing behavior.
Van Der Veer advocates for more of a coaching relationship between patients and doctors, where both work toward long term health goals, making continuous adjustments and improvements. He says this model makes dietary changes, activity changes, and environmental concerns easier to manage as patients get on the right track.
America’s Public Health Crisis
America is currently navigating a severe public health crisis, a state Dr. Jon Van Der Veer, CEO and founder of Hy-Vee Health Exemplar Care, describes as “chronic disease America”. Ailments like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are rising rapidly due to a societal shift from active agrarian labor to a sedentary, “stationary” lifestyle. Compounding this inactivity is the Standard American Diet (SAD), which relies heavily on ultra-processed, industrially made goods rather than fresh whole foods, contributing to a modern national obesity rate of nearly 40%.
Dr. Van Der Veer emphasized that while official medical guidelines prioritize lifestyle modifications, patients and providers routinely bypass them in favor of temporary pharmaceutical fixes. “All of these other things, blood pressure medications, those aren’t fixing anything,” Van Der Veer asserted, explaining that while prescriptions lower clinical numbers, they fail to address root causes. True recovery requires balancing a “four-legged stool” of health: diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management. Van Der Veer explained that modern ailments are largely within our control, stating, “the vast majority of chronic diseases are completely lifestyle related, preventable”.
Flipping the Incentive in Modern Healthcare
To combat this epidemic, Van Der Veer’s clinic utilizes a direct primary care membership model designed to disrupt traditional fee-for-service systems that profit off sickness. Under this structure, patients pay a flat monthly fee for unlimited access, aligning the provider’s financial incentives with the patient’s long-term wellness. “My goal is to collect that membership fee, get you all the things you’re wanting, which is to be healthy, and then you may actually need me less,” Van Der Veer explained. This model removes financial uncertainty, increasing patient engagement to four to six visits annually compared to the traditional insurance average of 1.7, ultimately catching health risks before they become catastrophic.