The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...
This article was written during a tennis tournament "road trip" with my daughter. I sent Mackenzie ahead with another lucky family, and drove the 6 plus hour trip to North Carolina by myself. This allowed me the opportunity to think but also to listen to whatever I wanted on the radio. I ended up with the 70's and 80's channels (and hence the title to this article). Almost each and every song brought a smile to my face and brought back the memory of a moment from high school, college or some aspect of medical training. I was clearly in my "happy place."
This tournament is also a little different than others. Most tennis tournaments include mainly singles events, where it's all about you. You either win or lose, and if it's the latter, you head home a lot sooner than everyone else. In this tournament, the "zonals," the kids are placed on teams representing different regions (Southern, Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic, etc), 6 girls, and 6 boys, and each day they play doubles, mixed doubles and singles, for a total of 18 possible points per day. The teams with the most points after several days, play each other at the end of the tournament, but in general, everyone plays every day, win or lose. And the best part, team members can clap and yell and cheer for each other, which is mostly forbidden in all other tournaments. This tournament takes what can be a very solitary, individual sport and turns it into a team sport. It's a lot of fun. If she's played well enough through the year to be selected, it is clearly my daughter's favorite tournament.
Could this be where medicine is going? Most of us perform as individuals, working directly with patients to diagnose, plan and implement treatments. Will health care reform transform us into something like tennis "zonals?" Will we be put on teams with other physicians? Michael Porter wrote a book on reforming healthcare even before all this recent talk of reform, and he predicted that care in the future would be delivered around a patient's main type of disease (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc), and that physicians would be organized in groups in order to manage chronic illnesses. Will primary care be delivered through a "medical home," a team of physicians, nurses and other professionals? Will physicians need to form larger group practices in order to be successful? Will physicians be on teams with hospitals or health systems in order to receive bundled payments?
As the debates go on in Washington, the GLMS, KMA and AMA continue to try to participate and influence the discussions. I think we all realize that the status quo will likely not continue, and that patient care is improved by more collaboration and continuity. Figuring out how we can make the practice of medicine more of a team sport instead of an individual one is likely a good idea, and maybe it will be even more fun than practicing alone, just like the "zonals."
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Sincerely,
Lynn T. Simon, MD
GLMS President
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| |  Louisville Medicine wants your proposals on health care reform:
By now you've read and heard many pundits' views of how to provide access to working health insurance for all, or at least more, Americans. Louisville Medicine wants to know what your proposals are. What kinds of solutions do you favor, and how would you design and finance them? Please join in and enlighten us - we who provide the care have a valuable perspective. Send your responses to bert.guinn@glms.org or by mail to the GLMS Communications Dept., 101 W. Chestnut, Louisville, KY 40202. Thanks from all of us - Mary G.Barry, MD and the Editorial Board
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