Have you been wondering about the impacts of public health policy on your daily life in healthcare?
Did you know that the finite number of minutes you have to spend with each patient was defined by the decisions of our policymakers?
Our day-to-day environment and even our daily choices as health care clinicians and consumers are profoundly impacted by the health policies developed across all levels of government: local, state, and national.
If you're curious about health policy and how the original design of our healthcare system is impacting your daily life, then you'll definitely appreciate hearing from Aaron Katz, public policy guru and Principal Lecturer emeritus at the University of Washington's School of Public Health.
And, while we're on the topic of health policy, I'd like to encourage you to consider The Inevitability Trap, by KC Golden.
Consistent with Aaron's encouragement to consider the values upon which our healthcare system was founded, Golden encourages us to be honest with ourselves and step into a place of accountability for the systems we have created. The outcomes of some of our choices have been catastrophic in creating horrifying levels of inequity and contributing to ever-increasing rates of medical errors.
No wonder we're living with skyrocketing rates of nurse and physician fatigue, burnout, and dropout from our clinical workforce. But is this really an inevitable outcome? I don't think so. I think it is high time that we re-evaluate our values.
We can make different decisions and we can transform our current clinical environment and the future of healthcare.
Take a moment to choose one small action that you can take to get involved with health policy. Remember, even just one hour a month can make all the difference.