Healthcare is in the midst of tremendous change. 2010 promises to be a year filled with changes that will impact all of us and the patients we treat. One of biggest challenges facing all of us is that we do not know what healthcare reform will look like. It is hard to plan and anticipate for a change that we cannot fully predict. Significant change is clearly coming. How that change will manifest is not nearly so clear. Actions are taking place right now in Washington that will have a huge impact on healthcare for decades to come. These changes are being hammered out in the committees and subcommittees in congress. The conclusions they reach and decisions they ultimately make will affect us, our children and our childrens children.
It has often been said that the best defense is a good offense. Now is exactly the time when we All need to be very pro-active. We all need to be aware of what changes are going to be proposed at a minimum. Ideally, we all need to become more politically active. Reach out to your elected officials. Let them know what is important to you. If you have ideas of how things could be better, share those. There is no question that change is coming. The only question is how much of a say we all will have in how that change will manifest.
There is strength in numbers. All of us who work in healthcare need to be united in our efforts to be active participants in this change. Regardless of our political backgrounds, we all share a single overriding goal: to provide the best care possible to whose who entrust their healthcare to us. We need to put aside our personal differences and stand together bonded as we are by this common goal.
The challenges facing all of us are tremendous. Living with uncertainty can be very stressful. I urge all of you to channel this uncertainty into something positive. If you do not know what healthcare changes are being proposed, find out. If you do not have a good understanding of how the process of healthcare reform is being percolated through congress, get informed. If you have an interest in getting involved in the political process, do it now. There may never be a more crucial time for all of us who care for patients to stand up and be heard than right now. Find out what the issues are, let your opinions be known, and get involved in helping put those opinions into action.
Times of great challenge are invariably times of great opportunity. Let all of rise to this occasion. Our patients deserve nothing less. If we do not speak up for those who rely on us, who will? Let 2010 be remembered as the year that we all stood up, all spoke out, and all did all we could to help our nation emerge from this time of tremendous change with the best possible healthcare system.
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