On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 6:35 PM, Cameron Childress <[email protected]> wrote: > If you actually think the discussions on this email list are going to > make any impact on heathcare in any way, then I would like to buy you > a beer, or maybe help you get laid.
Well, I can tell you that the discussions here do have an effect on my thinking and it influences the discussions I have with coworkers and physicians. It also influences the letters I write to my congresscritters and, hopefully, influences the discussions that my boss has with influential folks like Senator Wyden. My particular area of health care focuses more on the front office side of things, so I tend to think about interactions with health insurance companies a great deal. Discussions here have led me to give a broader look at places we might be able to work on reducing the overall cost of health care and improve patient care. One of those areas that we are looking to move into, as a result, is trying to provide tools to allow patients to cost-compare procedures while they are in a consultation with a physician. One of the problems with the notion of consumer-driven healthcare is that consumers and doctors don't really know how much things cost. Doctors tend to know that A and B are medical options but don't know how much A and B cost, in general, and certainly don't know how much A and B would cost with your particular insurance plan. Being able to bring that information into the realm of a real time consultation has the potential to significantly change the dynamic there. It is a tricky thing though and we are still working out the idea, but it is something I want to do. I'm happy to take the beer. I get laid plenty though, thanks. >> This really is people's lives we are dealing with. > > When I send a flamebait email to CF-Community and someone dies as a > result, I would like to be the first to know. You know that it isn't likely going to be a 1 to 1 relationship like that. That's why flamebait is such a cop out. No, it is more pernicious. It is more of a signal that "hey, this is being dealt with by people beyond our powers, so giving a shit is for suckers". It just encourages apathy and cynicism and when all the people have to offer is apathy and cynicism, corporate PACs have a fucking field day. They usually do anyway, of course, the system sucks that way. But if you keep beating people over the head with the drum beat "your opinions make no difference" then it really does become a total farce. How many people read this list compared to how many people bloviate here on a regular basis? And how many people are there in the voting public compared to the number that donate money to campaigns or write letters to the editor? The system is stacked against the public to start with. Besides corporate money lining the pockets of Congress and shoveling shit on the airways every year or two, there isn't much room left to influence much. But you know what? It does actually work. The people that get off their ass, right and left, who write letters, who dispute opinions, who speak up, who lay it out for all those folks that might read or listen or hear but never speak..they do make a difference. This crap really does make a difference even if you don't think it does. Health care is considered a fundamental human right by most nations and when you treat it as an opportunity for cheap laughs you do a grave disservice to your fellow human beings. If I can help a couple handfulls of people I don't know reinforce their opinion that healthcare is a right, that we can use the might of our country to do it better than we have, then I've done a good thing by writing this email. Because those people will talk to others, reinforce the beliefs, make them stronger and the voices will continue to be heard. Movements start by people talking. You may not think it does any good but what's the alternative? Silence? Nope, none for me thank you. If you don't like the seriousness with which I approach the topic then you can politely fuck the hell off while I try to encourage the rest of my comrades to raise their voices and do what we can to change things for the better. Judah ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:305618 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
