Fixing United States Health Care ꟷ A (1st) Quarterly Report

By T Michael White MD FACP

“Success is a journey, not a destination.

The doing is often more important than the outcome.” Arthur Ashe

fixingushealthcare.com

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Dear Mr. President, Honorable Members of Congress and Distinguished Staff and Fine Citizens,

In September, recognizing a vacuum (a US Health Care non-system), we (Drs. Hightower, Kellis and White) decided to undertake a process to influence the design and implementation of The United States Health Care System.  Recently we convened to brainstorm our perceptions regarding our progress (if any) to date.  These observations were forthcoming.  We submit them to you for your edification and consideration as a quarterly report:

1. Our tool (our website), ꟷ https://www.fixingushealthcare.com/, has proven to be:

   1. Important.

   2. Handsome and easy to navigate (thank you CIO Stepehen Dodson).

   3. A robust brainstorming platform that introduces many insights into concerns about and opportunities for United States health care.

   4. By design, a decent, kind, polite and professional site for the sharing of important ideas that potentially may make a meaningful difference.

2. We are pleased that others have joined the process as both observers and contributors.  Submissions are robustly identifying current reality and are serving as a foundation for opportunity.

3. We are chagrined that we have to date touched so few:

   1. We must increase participation (increase our base, our audience, our constituency).

   2. From a search engine perspective, our website is invisible.

   3. We must begin to identify and partner with regional and national leaders and organizations that can impact change.

   4. We must better understand the regional and national organizations championing this cause and partner with them.

4. We understand that:

   1. We are in the brainstorming phase to identify concerns and opportunities (talking); and

   2. For our efforts to be meaningful and make a difference, concepts must be harnessed and converted into actions leading to change (walking).

   We are committed.

5. On one hand, we find ourselves to be worried/anxious as we increasingly recognize that our fine country’s leadership is, if not clueless about, certainly unresponsive to our citizen’s health care’s peril. 

6. On the other hand, the tragic response to intolerable events surrounding the murder of a health care executive have heightened public dialogue about and awareness of widespread concern ꟷ have provided transparency to widespread concern.

7. We are chagrined to observe the Medicare generation to be apathetic.  While they are benefiting from and protected by Medicare, they seem unaware of or unconcerned for the health care circumstances facing their trailing generations.

8. We hear, but are not influenced by, messages “you are wasting your time” and “nothing can be done.”  Undeterred, as we move forward, we are proudly considering adopting the sobriquet, ‘Drs. Don Quixote Inc.’

9. From a practical perspective, to become visible, we must recruit financial support from Angel Supporters ꟷ support to assist with technical issues and public relations/social media/search engine considerations.

10. From a personal and professional perspective, we must avoid being pulled into a black hole:

    1. We must be adept at separating wheat from chaff.

    2. We must avoid aim, aim, aim… 

    3. We must remain cognizant that perfect is (often) the enemy of good.

    4. We must identify and engage support that shares the burden. And

    5. We must remain optimistic that there is a solution.

    6. We must remain optimistic that leadership (you) will step up to the task. 

11. We must become adept at sharing our submissions as editorials with local and regional newspapers. (note: see Dr. Kellis’ Op/ED in the December 23rd Utah Deseret News)

12. In a foggy way, we are beginning to have a hazy, distant vision of a product.  Converting data into information…

    The United States Health Care System ꟷ A Fix for United States Health Care

           I.          Introduction

           II.         Brainstorming

           III.        Analysis

    * Force Field Analysis

    * Fishbone Analysis

           IV.        Synthesis: The United States Health Care System

13. As we began, we recognized our most critical stakeholders to be our fine country’s millions of uninsured and underinsured.

14. Already, we better understand our country’s stakeholders for necessary change include:

    1. the uninsured.

    2. the underinsured.

    3. our (caught in the middle) physicians, nurses, therapists and their support staff.

    4. our patients.

    5. our own spouses and progeny.

    6. our neighbors.

    7. our community; and

    8. our fine country.

We now better understand stakes are high ꟷ our circumstance is critical.

In summary, we observe that we are off to a good, humble, start.  We recognize that we are on a steep learning curve.  We appreciate and are grateful for robust submissions that daily enhance our understanding.  We are pleased to have embarked on a process that potentially has us identifying, analyzing and synthesizing concerns into opportunities. 

            As we humbly address this decent, kind, polite and professional process that may make a meaningful difference, we appreciate your finding the time and energy to monitor our progress;  we ask that you contribute to our brainstorming; and we look forward to you (esteemed leadership) taking us from talking to walking by taking the lead.   

(these minutes have been reviewed, improved and approved by Drs. Hightower and Kellis)

Respectfully submitted,

T Michael White MD FACP

fixingushealthcare.com

Copy to: We The People at fixingushealthcare.com