Telling the Human Story of Healthcare Reform
Posted on Wed, Jul 08, 2009 @ 01:16 PM
I read an excellent essay in The New York Times on Monday, written by a doctor about 
the shortcomings of our current healthcare system. In the Times essay, the doctor argued that the current system whereby doctors are paid based on how much they treat patients, rather than how well they treat patients, has created a battle for the soul of medicine. Why do doctors get into medicine in the first place? Is it really just about money? What about building relationships with and caring for patients?
What touched me most about this essay was its humanity. As the battle rages in Washington over healthcare reform, regular people caught up in the current system—doctors, patients, and yes, healthcare executives—are struggling with fundamental questions about why we’re all here in the first place, and how we might be able to make things better.
Call me an idealist, but I really do believe that there are good people on all sides of the debate, including the clients I deal with every day at pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology companies. I would say that most of them have chosen to do the work that they do because they want to help people.
My greatest hope for healthcare communications professionals in this environment is that we can work with our clients to tell these human stories, and that the work we do can help remind everybody that the most important thing to remember is why we all got into this in the first place—to help people.
If we can remember that, I'm confident that we will succeed in creating a system that allows doctors to practice medicine with a focus on what is best for the patient, not how many tests and procedures they perform.
I want to thank Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, the cardiologist who wrote that New York Times essay, for sharing his story with us.