Q: "Am I crazy?"
This is a question I'm asking myself as I sit in a coffee shop this morning, looking for ways to get the message about this ambitious movement out to rest of the country.
First, I laugh at the question because I don't believe in "crazy." I think it's an empty term that promotes the negative stigma associated with mental illness. As I reassure every one of my patients, "everyone has something they're going through." In other words, "Effie we all got pain."
I treat people; I don't treat "crazy."
But as I look for like minds with whom to collaborate, I'm finding that the insanity breeds insanity. In fact, I think it's our healthcare system that's crazy, not the people involved. It's like "Groupthink Gone Wild."
For example, there are institutes for health policy that employ bright minds, all dedicated to solving our healthcare crisis. I see their credentials and their impressive lists of articles and books and I think to myself "what do they know that I'm missing? Obviously, I must be missing something to simplify the solution down to a 6 step plan..." How did a convoluted system manage to manipulate thousands of minds and billions of dollars into playing by the systems' insane rules? More odd: How is it that physicians aren't the lead in buiding a better healthcare system?
Take a step back and look at our "crazy" system:
It's "crazy" to think that a business would look at the plan and say "nah, I'd like to continue managing my employees health decisions and paying rising costs for health policies."
It's "crazy" to think that an average American citizen would look at the plan and say "nah, I'd rather keep paying for a system that never tells me prices and that can deny my requests for healthcare even though I've already paid for it."
It's "crazy" to think that veterans would look at the plan and say "nah, I'd much rather wait 6 months to get my physical therapy while the VA loses my paperwork again."
It's "crazy" to think that a federal government can make better healthcare decisions than you and your provider.
Yes, it's "crazy" to think that a David like me can take on the massive socio-cultural-financial Goliath known as American healthcare.
But I'm gonna try.