When Push Comes to Policy
Healthcare Leadership Council President Mary Grealy urges clinicians to contact their state representatives and help shape the debate on health care reform.
(12/9/2009)

If we could skip ahead to 2015, what would we like to see changed in our health care system? Certainly the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has started the wheels turning toward widespread reform. But according to Mary Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, these outcomes do not lie solely in Washington's hands. As the nation's leaders iron out the details of health care transformation, Grealy urges providers to step forward and lend their voices to the ongoing debate.

"Nearly all of our country's leaders agree that the health care industry needs to be reformed, but no one is exactly sure how to do it," she says. "These decisions are too important to be made in a political vacuum. It's up to clinicians to offer their first-hand experiences and work with our government on solving the problems with quality, cost, and efficiency that we see on a regular basis."

With the final definition of meaningful use being decided by the end of the year, there's no such thing as giving too much input too soon. "Already having a nurse representative on the HIT Policy Committee is a good start. But a push from us may be just what Washington needs," Grealy says. "ARRA has provided a long-awaited opportunity for hospitals to invest in I.T. and improve patient care in the process. However, the upcoming federal mandates will only be as strong as the clinical input shaping them."

To get involved, Grealy suggests that health care leaders share views with their state representatives in Congress. "We're the ones who can make sure that the patient always stays at the center of the dialogue," she says. "Don't underestimate your own power: it only takes about five or six letters from constituents, for a politician to sit up and take notice."

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