I've noticed that when I'm at work, I generally love my patients. I may have complaints about them, wish they would behave differently, get frustrated with their choices, but I do feel a warm connection with them. (OK, there are people/patients who I find I am violently allergic to, but they are rare.) I work in an area which votes differently than I do, and I don't necessarily agree with my patients, but I have their backs and want what's best for them. I don't necessarily feel that way about my fellow Americans. As a group many of them seem to act in ignorant, short sighted and often hateful ways. But when I meet them in a stuffy little office, I like them and on the important stuff, we usually see eye to eye. Why is that? I think I'm being hacked. My brain, that is. I think that there may be a concerted effort going on to make me feel like I'm not a powerful and loving part of a valued whole. It seems like what I read and what I'm exposed to in news
The cost of health care in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, and yet we are not healthier than our peer nations. In fact, in terms of such measures as infant mortality and life span, we don't measure up. Why is this? Many people involved in providing or receiving care have some pretty good ideas about what costs so much, and what we can do to reduce costs and improve quality. Sharing these stories is an important step in creating affordable universal health care.