restorARTively

Someone recently compared me to the game, "Whack a Mole". Affectionately, he described me as a person who kept sprouting up in a variety of arenas, sharing a different skill he didn't know I had or had interest in. Roaring in laughter, I agreed it seemed a spot-on description and reason why I might get so many headaches. In sharing a variety of experiences, opinions, successes and failures, I have been beaten around a little bit for them. Including a recent unexpected series of harassing phone calls and emails from a surgeon who seemed to misunderstand (and appeared quite threatened by) my goals for transparency and disclosure in health care. Whether it has been a tragic rift with family & friends because of poor or lacking communication or a medically trained clinician I have never met, my head still hurts from the blows. I never seem to know where they will come from, so like other grievers I go undercover to protect myself. My assessor explained what he was seeing....

Politicians are struggling with bipartisanship and meaningful transdisciplinary conversations over health care insurance. Debate has begun to shift to one of the major factors of steep costs in health care - medical malpractice. Most of the media focus has been on "tort reform" which is symptomatic of the problem, not the problem itself. Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority board member and lawyer, Cliff Reiders, wrote in the summer of 2009 how the tort reforms made into Pennsylvania law in 2002 have significantly reduced the number of medical malpractice claims while at the same time the reports of medical errors in Pennsylvania hospitals have increased . These numbers are significant to Philadelphia and its surrounding area as it houses at least 6 major hospitals and health systems - most internationally recognized as leaders in innovative medicine. Though the worst medical cases may end up in Philadelphia's hospitals, there are many simple patient cases that fall...

Dhamber Ghalley learned from a reporter that the doctor he drove his sister to had previously had his medical license suspended. He learned this during the reporter's investigation into his sister's death after a procedure done by the same doctor, Kermit B. Gosnell. This story is an example of many tragic cases that happen across our city, state, and even the country. It is commonplace for patients to trust the medical providers they go to. Iatrogenic injury (injury caused by a medical provider) is as taboo as the procedure (an abortion at 19 weeks) Gosnell was performing on Ghalley's sister, Karnamaya Mongar. Regardless of the procedure or the doctor, patients and their families are becoming increasingly aware that they need to educate themselves when making decision regarding health care. While it is lacking in accessibility and transparency, there are some tools patients and families can use to garner some preliminary information on potential health care providers....

President Obama has released a new proposal for a Health Bill to be considered by the House and Senate which will culminate in a highly anticipated meeting on health care reform on February 25. There are current tools available to hospitals, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, insurers, and others close to improve care NOW - regardless, of the outcome of this summit. One of these tools comes from a well-established customer service industry leader. Two successful tools are the Patient's VOICE (tm) and Patient Satisfaction Skills(tm). The potential cost of the President's plan is about $950B (the Congressional Budget Office has not yet released a financial analysis of the proposal). This is a scary, hefty price tag. The health care industry has been aware of the out-of-control costs of its industry for well over a decade or more. This is new to many consumers and those outside of the industry. In Pennsylvania, legislators have continued to allow state funding for The Pennsylvania Hea...

Consider the true impact of medical malpractice. How does it affect patients, caregivers, siblings, parents, etc? What is the impact on society at large? What happens when you lose trust in a doctor? Or your local hospital? Or are a provider and you lose trust in a patient? What is available to help heal the iatrogenic injured bodies and souls? How much of a burden does medical malpractice put on our social services industries? Where do clinicians go to get help? Is there a place for patients and their families to reach out? Can patients and clinicians impacted help each other? In working one on one with both parties, each will move forward. What seems more challenging is meaningful healing that brings a sense of understanding and being understood. Absent understanding to bring peace, both impacted parties are stuck in a pattern of anger, grief and denial. Each party leans on whatever they can find available to fill the void left by anger and isolation. Alcohol, prescription drugs, fo...