I just copied this from another posting because I felt it needed it's own space. That other posting was good but the topic name was off target. So, let's keep this good conversation going here in it's own space..... Paul
How many of you would "really" be willing to help fund an informational group or PAC, that's only job would be to hit the media regularly, so as to inform the general public of our bankrupcies, over-load, anti-free market, and plight? We need to attact this on a national level and it would probably take all of us, hitting our various local media outlets, combined to pressure at a federal level regularly to finally make a real dent in the lack of public awareness. "Primary Care Physicains for Economic Equality and Reform... Yeah that's almost Pecker's isn't it??? lol).
The other thing is that we would need get our story striaght and make sure that a good part of it shows the public why hurting us really hurts them. We now don't have enough endocronology here in the Syracuse area for all the diabetics that need their services. The latest office to close says that they lost $300,000 in about that last 3 years and so had no choice but to close their doors. This is because the gave real care, took real time to see their patients and did lots of uncompensated work.
I think it is time for a primary care based organization that represents the real day to day hard workers like you folks. I feel that most of the state medical societies and the AMA don't care enough about PCP's. They care about specialists and maintaining the old broken system that allows certain high paid specialties to not PAR and keep this broken system going. So at some point very soon you guys need your own real champion and public support for change that includes you! Healthcare reform is on the public agenda but who is getting your side of the story out and speaking up for your needs? Trust me you don't want this big nasty thing getting "reformed" without having your voices heard and represented at that table. Goodness knows what that'll look like. "Oh we'll just finance reform like we do Medicaid, on the backs of starving and broke PCP's and other care providers"; trust me....
I don't really see anyone doing the right thing on any of this, do you? Do you think that the AMA is really going to get you guys a real "bump" in your E&M codes that are PCP only or finally create and get Medicare to pay for codes tha cover, getting paged and providing talk care after hours, all your phonecall, review and discussing and explaining labs time??? Try calling your lawyer and not have the chess clock start ticking, right?
Even the local Teamsters here were trying to simply win the right to organize and collectively bargin here in our state. But those of you who saw my post from the AAFP article about the FTC totally emasculating that GYN union, know that we need a new FTC and federal legislation that defines and protects your rights against these large greedy monsters. So what if you have a local union, if the moment you actual start to flex you collective muscle the FTC comes right in and shuts you down??? The only way that any of this is going to change is with a large public ground swell of support, and we better grab this opportunity now while it is on the greater public psychie.
So, are you folks really ready to waste your one spare evening a week, and your last few spare (do you have any left?) dollars on getting on this? Each one of you, your own local rep who needs to knock on a lot of doors, have them slammed in your face and come back for more???? we'll create a good stump speech so the message stays on target might we say.
Nancy does a small weekly peice on various health topics here with our local NBC affiliate on the lunch time news broadcast. I just got her to agree to talk about the closing of the Endo group here and their loss of $300K and how this affects real patients. That she needs to use her bully pulpit now and again for this. She started saying the public won't buy it because they think you're all rich. I told her to have them take a picture of our rusting out, 181K miles, '98 Grand Cherokee with the mismatching red door on it's green body, with it's missing front bumper. And that car was bought for us by my mom the widowed retired school teacher bought us when we had our first kid so the kid wouldn't be in a bomb of a '72 Plymouth Scamp that we used to daily drive back then. We couldn't then, as now afford such a car ourselves!
How can we organize and pull this off? I think it's gonna have to be grassroots. Doctor to doctor like on this board. You guys need to make friends with other stressed out docs in your areas, let the drug companies feed you now and then to make new friends and get reaquainted with old ones, and do this person to person, one at a time. Anyone really game? I'm scared I just got myself in over my head, because Bert is gonna want me to lead the charge....HEEELLLLLLP!!! Are you folks game???
Good Night and Good Luck
Paul
