The following op-ed was published on January 29th, 2010 in The New York Times’ Room for Debate blog.
With health reform’s future in peril, President Obama noted in his State of the Union address that the process has “left most Americans wondering what’s in it for them.”
For reform to succeed, the problems facing most patients today, ranging from their deteriorating relationship with doctors to the consequences of medical malpractice, have to be better addressed.
As a primary care physician, I often see patients frustrated by rushed office visits or waiting weeks for an appointment. Without valuing the time doctors spend with their patients, or effectively increasing the primary care workforce, these problems will only worsen if health coverage expands.
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Furthermore, the absence of meaningful liability reform means patients injured by medical mistakes will continue to remain in a dysfunctional system where 1 in 6 receives no financial recourse, the average case takes five years to resolve, and 54 cents of every compensated dollar go to pay legal fees.
And according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, serious efforts to reform medical malpractice could save as much as $54 billion over the next decade; a substantial sum being ignored as lawmakers struggle to cope with health reform’s costs.
But the imperfections of the bills before Congress doesn’t mean that the status quo is a viable alternative. If health reform is unsuccessful, more people will join the millions of Americans without health coverage, and medical costs will continue to spiral upwards. Both will have serious consequences for future generations, as it will be unlikely that either political party will re-approach the issue anytime soon.
A recent Gallup poll noted that 73 percent of patients trusted their doctor’s opinion on health reform, surpassing the trust they had in health policy experts, Congress and even President Obama himself.
So to best convince patients, reformers need to garner widespread physician support; essential not only to pass any comprehensive measure, but to ensure its enduring success.
President Obama’s ability to convince enough doctors that reform will benefit their patients and facilitate the way physicians can best care for them, will be critical in determining health reform’s fate.
Kevin Pho, MD, is a practicing, board-certified internal medicine physician and the founder and editor of KevinMD, which he built from scratch in 2004 to give clinicians and patients a place to be heard. Over two decades, it has become one of the most recognizable physician-led publications in health care, drawing more than 7 million annual page views and over 500,000 followers across social media. He still sees patients in primary care in Nashua, New Hampshire, the practice he says keeps the platform honest.
He is the host of The Podcast by KevinMD, a daily, 15-minute show that has surpassed 2,000 episodes and 2.6 million IAB-certified downloads, featuring physicians, patients, caregivers, founders, and health care leaders in conversation about what they actually see and do. He is also a national media commentator and the coauthor of Establishing, Managing, and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices.
An acclaimed keynote speaker, Kevin speaks nationwide to clinicians and non-clinicians on health care, digital media, physician leadership, and burnout. His signature keynote, “Connect and be heard: Make a difference in health care with social media,” traces his social media journey since 2004 and inspires audiences to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, make their voices heard in health reform, and turn the tide against clinician burnout. He is the founder of Physician Speaking by KevinMD, a physician-run speakers bureau, and is available for speaking opportunities.
Kevin earned his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency at Boston University Medical Center. The New York Times called KevinMD “a highly-coveted publishing place for doctors and patients,” and Forbes called it a “must-read health blog.” He is an inductee of the Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame, a recipient of the American Medical Writers Association McGovern Award, and a New Hampshire Magazine Top Doctor.
