Entering the Fray....

The frustration of sitting on the side lines while politicians, celebrity cable news channel hosts and their station heads shape public perception and understanding of health care has finally pushed me over the edge and into the realm of the "blogosphere". My agenda is simply to provide a forum to clarify the information and correct misinformation that is spreading through editorials and miscellaneous news articles appearing in journals and major newspapers, as well as television media reporting. Consumers of health care, which we all are, need to understand what system our politicians are trying to reform in order to best evaluate whether proposed legislation and policy will actually accomplish the change we are all looking for.

So, what do I bring to the table? In addition to my fifteen years in the business administration of medical practices in both multi-doctor groups and solo practices, my husband is a practicing surgical subspecialist. We have been able to experience and observe how the medical field and the business of medicine function in the private marketplace (as opposed to academic centers and our government VA hospitals)in a variety of areas: twelve years in a major metropolitan area, and currently for four years in a rural area of the U.S. We also had the opportunity to live overseas in New Zealand where he practiced within a nationlized system of healthcare. These experiences have given me a unique overview of how the business of medicine functions. And the business of medicine is what has shaped our current system of health care,and will continue to influence and redefine the practice of medicine.

The industry as a whole is convoluted and multi-faceted. I can only comment on those areas in which I have direct knowledge or experience, which is limited to physicians and hospitals, and health insurance - and this admittedly is only one piece of the health care puzzle.


How medicine is practiced, how it is accessed, and how it is compensated is complex and confusing. It is my hope that by way of referencing current news and journal articles in order to validate or refute assertions by offering constructive and helpful explanation in layman's terms, we can all be more educated about what is most definitely a convoluted and confusing maze of business practices unique to the business of medicine.

Please feel free to offer your insight, experience or correction to my analysis of different commentary's, articles, etc that I will post here. And please send me links to articles that you may have read that you would like to be reviewed.