A Physician's Message to the Media

In the next two years leading up to the presidential election, you will be writing, interviewing, blogging , televising, podcasting, and webinaring about the health reform.

It will be hand-to-hand combat between the political parties and between health care participants, which includes all of us. There will be plenty of slings, arrows, and clubs unfurled, thrown, and abused. Confusion will reign because of the complexities, controversies, and sheer magnitude of the issues.

Perhaps we doctors can help guide you through some of the issues by telling you what we see from the ground and how reform affects us and our patients.

For you, times are a’changing. The Internet, cable news clashes, and the insatiable appetite for continuous news may have turned your world upside down, or downside up, whichever you prefer.

The demand for instant news may have robbed you of time to do your job. Newspapers can’t keep up. Ad revenues are plunging. Readers are getting their information “free”. The social media is rampaging. Kindle, Nook, and other e-readers are replacing print newspapers and magazines. You may have lost your job, or you fear you will.

The practice of journalism is not what it used to be. Neither is the practice of medicine. Because of plethora of factors - lower reimbursements , rising practice costs, demands for documentation, and insurance hassles - physicians no longer have time to spend with patients. Doctors want more time with patients, and less time with paperwork and phone calls to insurers.

Time is a perishable asset. They are not making any more of it. Once gone, it will never come again.

As an educated professional on deadline, faced with meeting the accelerating pace of change, you know the importance of time. Perhaps we can help you conserve your time while helping you get your job done quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

When you call or email us for an interview, please leave us your name, state briefly the purpose of the interview, and tell what you want us to comment on. We will return the call and tell you what we know as seen from the clinical trenches.