National and State Healthcare Organizations, What Good Are They?

Open letter to all Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants and all healthcare provider specialists. The healthcare industry is getting steamrolled by political concerns that couldn't care less about patient care. And MD's, DO's, NP's and PA's are in a giant pissing contest bad mouthing each other while the money interests are stealing control of medicine away from the only people in healthcare advocating for patients. Medicine is medicine people! We all diagnose a gallstone and clear a patient for surgery the same way, no matter what initials are after your name! We have to stand together for our own interests and the interests of our patients. So far, all we have been doing is whining, and complaining about each other and the system. Moaning about computers, legislation, and all the other laws that make our lives miserable and do nothing to improve patient care. We need have our national organizations say stop, enough is enough is enough. If the AMA, AOA, AANP and AAPA and the national organizations of other specialties all went to Washington and stood united, someone would have to take notice! Its time these organizations that collect hundreds of thousands in dues annually, if not millions, actually represent US! I'm going to explain a bit about my experience with these organizations. In my observations they tend to push for legislation to further their individual position and agenda. They go to state and national conferences slap each other on the back, bad mouth the other side and tell each other how cool they are. The physician groups are well established, but the Mid-Levels (PA's & NP's) are both new concepts. They both started in the late 60's and early 70's. With all the focus on midlevels for the future of healthcare, these two groups can ill afford to bicker amongst themselves. As someone with a foot in both camps, this arguement is foolish to me. We both provide healthcare, and both lisences are trained to provide high quality healthcare, reguardless of what initials are after your name. At this point in time, more so than at any in our past, it is important that Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners put aside their differences and come together for the good of the patient, the survival of the individual providers and the future of Mid-level Practice. Now is the time to craft our future. In 06 or 07, while at a California Academy of Physician Assistant and then winthin one year at the American Academy of Physicían Assitant conferences, I ask Board of Directors members if they were going to have lectures on the impact of computerization on healthcare. The answer I recieved caused my jaw to hit the floor. It also drove home the uselessness and cluelessness of our state and national "Leadership". "We don't feel that the computerization of healthcare is going to have enough of an impact on heacthcare to warrant lectures." After that, I never bothered to renew any of my annual memberships. James D. Gutzman, Rn, NP, PA.