July 25th, 2009 by Emergiblog in Announcements, Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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This is Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, speaking at the Better Health “Putting Patients First” event in D.C.
I should talk about how passionately he spoke about health care reform (he did), about why he does not believe government should be running health care (he doesn’t) or that he took the time to come and speak at 8 am even though he had been up until 2 am working on the health care bill (he did) or that he spoke right up until he – literally- had to run back to the House to vote (he did).
And I will talk about these things.
But first, let me state the obvious and get it out of the way so that I can go on to discuss the serious nature of the health care reform debate before us.
Whoa.
Seriously, is it just me or are politicians getting better looking?
There. Now I can move on to the meat of the matter.
(I had to say it because you all know I was thinking it!)
*****
This event marked my first time in Washington, and just being there is awe-inspiring. Seeing the White House from the car window took my breath away, literally. I felt like Ellie May Clampett marveling at the ce-ment pond. The National Press Club is a museum in and of itself. Mother Jones and I were hoping we’d catch a glimpse of Sanjay Gupta, but he must have been off doing neurosurgery or something.
*****
By now, you’ve probably read who was on the panel (Dr. Wes, DrRich, Dr.Rob, Dr.Kevin, me, and Better Health contributors Dr. Alan Dappen, Valerie Tinley, NP and “token” – his words, LOL – surgeon Dr. James Herndon).
I will tell you straight up that I learned much more than I contributed.
The panel shot from the hip and spoke from the heart. Some of us had notes, some of us illustrated our comments with anecdotes and one of us (*cough*) had no clue what was going to come out of her mouth until that moment.
I’ll give you a hint….it wasn’t Valerie…..
*****
For the record, those of us on the panel were not told what to say, how to say it or what to believe, nor were we chosen based on what we do believe. Some discussed concepts that should be taken into account no matter what plan we end up with, others were definitely against a single payer plan run by the government (*raising hand*).
The inefficiencies of national health plans of other countries were illustrated/discussed. This hit me later: we should look at what works in those plans, not just what is wrong with them. We don’t have to emulate them, just learn from them, and that includes the good and the bad. It also applies to any universal form of coverage, not just a government-run plan.
Wish I had said that at the time.
So much for thinking on my feet (or on my butt, as the case may be).
*****
There was some controversy about not having any patient bloggers on the panel. There should have been. I hope that, as a nurse, I spoke for patients, but it was not the same as having someone there who navigates the system as a patient every single day.
The patient bloggers were in the audience, though, and if you go to Twitter you can find the live tweeting at “#patientsfirst”. There was a pretty healthy debate going on in the Twitterverse while the panel was up on the dais.
Here I am with Lisa Emrich (Brass and Ivory) and Kerri Morrone Sparling (Six Until Me). Duncan Cross was also there, but my pic was blurry!
*****
While health care reform has been a hot topic for awhile, it was especially acute this week as the President was actively promoting a government run health care system and there seemed to be a huge sense of urgency to get what is called “Americas Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009″ passed ASAP.
The bill is over 1000 pages long.
I just downloaded it.
And Congress has not read it.
Folks, our representatives are being asked to pass legislation they have not had a chance to read.
While I will admit to being a bit unsure of exactly what happens in the Beltway (Civics classes and Schoolhouse Rock’s “I’m Just a Bill” notwithstanding), that can’t possibly be business as usual.
Can it?
*****
I’ll say one thing: no matter what we believe, why we believe it or what our role is in the health care system, it is a conversation rife with strong opinions and passionate debate.
And, in the end, because we are all patients in one form or another at some point in our lives, the conversation is about us.
So, when you hear the phrase “putting patients first”, think of it as “putting me first”.
That may help you get a foothold in the morass of information that is the health care debate.
It worked for me.
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
July 25th, 2009 by Emergiblog in News, Opinion
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I was honored to receive an unprecedented opportunity to hear a Senior Advisor to President Obama speak about his health care reform efforts at BlogHer 09.
Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, spoke to an intimate group of bloggers at a luncheon today.
And I was 15 minutes late.
How humiliating! This was definitely not the event where one should be “fashionably late”.
Ms. Jarrett was totally cool though, and said “Come on in and tell us who you are!” Apparently I had just missed intros; the discussion was just starting.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
********************
Now I’ve been pretty clear about not wanting a government run health care system, and I attended the luncheon knowing I did not have a clear grasp on the President’s proposal. (I have downloaded the Bill, have not had a chance to finish it.) I wanted to keep an open mind; I wanted to learn as opposed to opine.
The best way to learn is to keep your mouth shut and listen. That is exactly what I did.
It was not easy.
*****
Ms. Jarrett is warm, sincere and truly passionate about the President’s efforts at health care reform; Ms. Jarrett has full faith in the ability of the President to positively reform our health care system.
Now, if I heard and understood correctly, what the President wants is a public plan as an option; a choice to obtain health care coverage through the government should you find yourself unemployed/without any health care coverage. Ms. Jarrett was adamant that the goal is not a single-payer government run plan, but there was some group questioning of (1) why the idea of a government plan is perceived as scary and (2) whether or not it would be tantamount to socialism and indeed, what would be wrong with that anyway. One blogger noted that she knew many Canadians who were happy with their health care.
These questions were more rhetorical in nature. Honestly, I don’t think time would have permitted in-depth discussion.
*****
There was discussion on how bloggers can get out the message of health care reform and ideas on how the President can best communicate his ideas to the public. It was noted that the President is holding press conferences for which he is asking full coverage because he wants the entire story told, not just sound bytes. (Side note: I found this interesting because just recently ABC News encamped in the White House for an entire day – and the topic was health care reform.)
I actually did have a question enter my mind, as I was intrigued by the idea that the public plan was an option: I wanted to know if one could move in and out of the public plan as desired, or were you stuck in the public plan once it was chosen.
I didn’t get a chance to ask, as the discussion moved forward with two bloggers sharing stories of their personal experiences with the health care system. Very personal, heart wrenching stories. Their frustration and anguish was palpable. Ms. Jarrett listened with empathy; she truly cared about what my fellow bloggers had/were enduring.
I found out later that both bloggers left with her personal business card with her office number for them to call her directly after the conference. That was impressive.
*****
So, some final thoughts.
I like Valerie Jarrett. It was amazing that she took time to come and speak to us, and it was informative. She speaks straight, she is sincere and she seems very passionate and compassionate regarding health care reform. I’m a bit more informed about what the President is looking for. This was the advantage shutting up and listening. I don’t necessarily agree but I’m starting to at least get a hold of the concept.
Gratuitous political commentary: I think a little too much time was spent decrying the last administration. It’s over; time to move on.
Now for my totally off-the-cuff observation. I could not help but notice this was the exact opposite of my experience in DC last week. This was a full-on Obamafest, last week seemed like an “anything BUT Obamafest”. This week the “opposition” was putting out misinformation, last week the “opposition” was trying to cram a bill through before Congress could read it.
Is there no middle ground? Does it have to be this contentious? Maybe it’s the way of politics and I’m just now realizing it.
Between the two events, I guess I have now been exposed to a “fair and balanced” view of health care reform by Washington insiders.
So….why does it still feel like I have vertigo?
*****
This post was written from my own notes and memory. It was actually live-blogged in real time and if you would like to read the entire transcript, it is written here: Valerie Jarrett/Health Care Reform Live Blog BlogHer 09.
Valerie Jarrett, White House Senior Advisor Talks to Bloggers at BlogHer09
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
January 28th, 2009 by drval in Announcements, News, Quackery Exposed
72 Comments »
In a press release dated January 28, 2009, the HealthCentral Network announced the acquisition of a company called Wellsphere from its young CEO, Ron Gutman. Many of my fellow medical bloggers are familiar with Wellsphere as they’ve received countless email form letters from Wellsphere’s CMIO, Dr. Geoffrey Rutledge. The form letters are flattering, and suggest that the company would like to feature the blogger’s writing on their platform.
But what happens next is disturbing – to become a member of Wellsphere, bloggers provide access to their blog’s RSS feed. Hidden in the fine print is the blogger’s consent for Wellsphere to publish the entire feed (in other words, all of the blogger’s written work) and that once it’s published on their site, they own the intellectual property rights to it.
Astonishingly Wellsphere convinced some 1700 bloggers to join their network, and have now sold their site (which is comprised almost entirely of blog post content) to HealthCentral Network for an undisclosed amount, likely in the millions.
How much did the bloggers get for their writing? As far as I know, zero dollars.
In the reference section below you will see copies of emails sent by Dr. Rutledge and excerpts from the website’s Terms of Use document.
Is this the biggest scam ever pulled on health bloggers? You decide. If you have any additional information, feel free to post it in the comments section below.
Addendum: HealthCentral Network CEO tells Wall Street Journal “most bloggers are happy about Wellsphere.” If you disagree, send protest Tweet #wellsphere or leave comment below.
References:
Here is the introductory form email sent out by Dr. Rutledge:
Hi Dr. Jones,
I was on a search for the best medical blogs, when I found you at X. I think your blog is great. I’d like to invite you to participate in the network of medical expert bloggers at Wellsphere, but perhaps I should explain a bit about myself and about Wellsphere as background.
My name is Dr. Geoff Rutledge, and, like you, I understand the power of the Internet to help people. I’m a physician (board certified in IM and EM) who previously practiced, taught, and carried out research at Stanford and Harvard medical schools, before I built and launched the first consumer ehealth service that became WebMD.com.
I now work with Wellsphere, which is a next-generation online platform that helps people achieve their health and healthy living goals – it is a major advance in the way people find and share information and services. Our platform connects millions of users with the valuable insights and knowledge from health leaders and medical experts like you — take a look at how the platform works at www.wellsphere.com. Stanford University was so impressed that they deployed our service for the entire campus (see stanford.wellsphere.com). We sell our service to employers and health plans – you won’t see today any ads or commercial services on our free public site.
I offer you the opportunity to be a featured medical expert blogger for a new Wellsphere community. Members and visitors will see your postings highlighted, featured, and clearly marked as authored by a true medical expert.
When you join, we will feature you on our medical experts page (here is the preliminary design for this page: http://www.wellsphere.com/medical-experts.htm), and I will highlight your participation and your postings in my personal blog, which is featured prominently on the homepage of wellsphere.com (Dr.Geoff’s MedBlog, http://medblog.wellsphere.com/).
We will republish the postings you’ve already written for you (through your RSS feed), and feature them not only on the community pages of the site, but also within a new dynamic magazine-like Wellsphere360 section, where we give users a comprehensive view of medical expert information, plus news, videos, local resources, and member postings on topics you write about. You can see a sample of a Wellsphere360 special section at http://www.wellsphere.com/Wellsphere360/diabetes-type-2.htm
Also, I will select the best medical bloggers to feature on our homepage at www.wellsphere.com.
Your posts will link back to your blog, so you will benefit from Wellsphere’s high ranking and large readership interested in your topic, which will give you more traffic, additional relevant audience, and a higher ranking for your blog. Wellsphere has well over a million visitors per month, and is growing rapidly.
If you would like us to feature you, just send me an email to Dr.Rutledge@wellsphere.com.
Good health,
Geoff
–
Geoffrey W. Rutledge MD, PhD
Dr.Rutledge@wellsphere.com
http://www.wellsphere.com
Here is a follow up email after I declined to join the network:
Hi Dr. Val,
We haven’t met, but I’ve been following your journey. We sent you an invitation to republish your blog from RevolutionHealth on Wellsphere, though I understood why that was somewhat problematic. I’m looking forward to seeing your new site at http://drvalblog.com/
Have you followed the advances that Wellsphere has made in creating a consumer-focused site that makes it easy to find both medical expert content and knowledge, and patient/community support?
If you would be interested in reaching the Wellsphere audience (now significantly exceeding that of RevolutionHealth, with over 2 million visitors per month), I would be pleased to extend the offer to republish your blog postings on Wellsphere.
We also could list you as a Notable Wellsite on topic pages of your interest (for which we ask only that you either list us on your blogroll, or take advantage of our free Health Knowledge Finder widget, or post an “I’m featured on Wellsphere” badge on your site.)
Cheers, Geoff
Here is a follow up email sent to a blogger who declined to join the network:
Hi XXX,
I just wanted to follow up on the invitation I sent you to be a featured blogger on Wellsphere.com. I was impressed with your blog at XXX, and invited you to be a featured blogger in the new General Medicine community. We can also promote your blog in our new dynamic, magazine-like WellPages (with no extra work for you)! If you’re interested in being featured and promoting your blog to the larger Wellsphere audience, please drop me an email!
Good Health!
Geoff
-
Here is more information on how this works:
We republish your articles on our site, and include links back to your site. We also publish your profile with a link back to your site, and we feature you on special sections on topics that you write on, and in your topic-based community.
We will set up your profile if you don’t already have one, so you don’t have to do anything but give us permission to republish your content on our site. We don’t require a particular schedule for posting, though we have invited you to become a Wellsphere health blogger based in part on your history of posting on your blog.
Our growing network of bloggers (now over 1700) have told us they value what Wellsphere is trying to accomplish – helping people of all walks of life and across the spectrum of health to achieve healthier lives. They also appreciate the opportunity to reach the larger (and also rapidly growing!) Wellsphere audience, and to benefit from links in each posting that drive traffic back to their blogs.
We would be happy to include you in our network as we expand into health topics.
——
Geoffrey W. Rutledge MD, PhD
Chief Medical Information Officer
Wellsphere, Inc.
http://www.wellsphere.com
Here is an email from Wellsphere mistakenly sent to my webmaster (he’s not a blogger):
Hi john,
We are excited to recognize you in our new YES, WE CARE! Campaign that honors everyday heroes, like you, who put themselves on the front lines in the quest for a healthier, happier world by spending their time and putting their hearts and souls into helping others in need. We’re particularly excited to have this chance to honor you, for dedicating your time and writing to help people improve their health and well-being. We’ve nominated YOU as one of our Everyday Heroes!
As part of the YES, WE CARE! Campaign, we are creating a special video to highlight some of the amazing stories we’ve heard that demonstrate that caring for others is alive and well today all over the world. We would love to include YOUR story in the video! If you would like to send us a short video (cell phone or webcams are just fine!) about what moved you to start your blog, or to share a moving story of caring that you were involved in or heard about, we’d be happy to include it in the video. You can also interview someone you think is an Everyday Hero, or tell their story. Please keep the length of your video between 20 seconds and 2 minutes. The video can be very casual and definitely does NOT need to be professional or polished - just be yourself!
Please send us the video ASAP, and no later than Sunday, October 19th.
We can’t wait to see your videos and are looking forward to recognizing you and other Everyday Heroes you know for your extraordinary contribution to the world!
To submit your video, send us your video as an attachment via email to wecare@wellsphere.com. If you would like to send a video directly from your cell phone, just email me at Dr.Rutledge@wellsphere.com and I’ll send you the cell phone number you can send a video-text message to.
Good health!
Geoff
–
Geoffrey Rutledge MD, PhD
Chief Medical Information Officer
Wellsphere
Dr.Rutledge@wellsphere.com
Here is an email from Wellsphere about their plans for a health blog conference:
Hi ,
This week, I’m excited to share the warm words we’ve heard about all of you and the early feedback we’ve heard about the Yes, We Care Campaign, and announce the world’s first Health Blogger Conference! We can’t wait to meet you in person…
Yes We Care!
The Yes We Care Campaign launched last week, and we’re thrilled to be able to honor you and your colleagues on the Map of Caring. The response has once again been quite dramatic. Many of you have already posted your Everyday Hero badges and the heartwarming Yes We Care! Video on your blogs. Here are a few of the comments we’ve heard about the campaign:
“I am thrilled to participate in your “YES, WE CARE !” Campaign and am most humbled in your nomination. What an amazing idea! Our blog continues with the hope of “paying it forward” and helping others, just as you are doing with Wellsphere. .. Thanks for doing such an amazing job!” - http://www.ranaesheart.com/
“Thank you so much for recognizing my site and the effort that went into creating it!!! It’s amazing people like yourselves that keep me going and make a contribution to the greater good of all !! thank you again my friends !!!” -http://liftheavy.wordpress.com/
“Here is the video from Wellsphere! It is very cool it’s a 10 minute video with people from all over trying to help heal the world! Awesome video guys!” http://thelifeofthomascslater.blogspot.com/
“I want to take this opportunity to thank Wellsphere for calling me a “Everyday Hero” for the lives I have touched. I want to say thank you for giving me that opportunity to do so.” http://ucanhope2.blogspot.com
Many of you commented that the Yes We Care video let you see and connect with other members of the Health Bloggers Network for the first time, and asked if we would consider organizing an event for everyone to meet and connect with each other. WHAT A GREAT IDEA!
I am very pleased to announce the world’s first Health Blogger Conference (“ HBC -09”)! This conference will be the largest gathering of health writers in history! The Conference will be by invitation only, and as a member of the Health Blogger Network, you will automatically be guaranteed an invitation. This will be a great place for you to meet fellow health bloggers, share best practices, discuss sources of ideas, learn how to promote your blog, and meet some of the most prominent figures in the world of health. There will be a series of organized information sessions and seminars, as well as fun events and ample opportunities for you to meet and mingle in a relaxed atmosphere. We will announce the location soon – somewhere you will enjoy a healthy, rejuvenating, experience.
If you’d like to get involved in the Conference, here are some of the opportunities available to you:
- become an organizer
- become a volunteer
- give a talk or seminar
- organize a panel presentation
- suggest a topic for a talk or a panel
- suggest a speaker to invite to give a presentation
Here Are Excerpts From Wellsphere’s Terms of Service Document:
Ownership
…All Website Materials, including any intellectual property rights in such Website Materials, are the property of Wellsphere, its affiliates, licensors, or the designated owners, and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You should assume that everything you see on this Website is copyrighted unless otherwise noted, and may not be used without our written permission except as provided in these Terms…
Content You Submit to or Post on the Website
…You agree that any and all comments, information, photos, videos, feedback and ideas that you communicate to Wellsphere or submit or post to the Website or give Wellsphere permission to post to the Website (“User Materials”) will be deemed, at the time of communication to Wellsphere or submission or posting to the Website, to be the property of Wellsphere, and Wellsphere shall be entitled to full rights of ownership, including without limitation, the unrestricted right to use or disclose such User Materials in any form, medium or technology now known or later developed, and for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to you. In the event that you have any rights in the User Materials that cannot be assigned or waived you hereby grant to Wellsphere a royalty-free, paid-up, exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual license to (i) use, make, sell, offer to sell, have made, and further sublicense any such User Materials, and (ii) reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, publicly perform and publicly display the User Materials in any medium or format, whether now known or later developed.
When you post your own copyrightable content on the Website or give Wellsphere permission to post your copyrightable content on the Website, you retain ownership of any copyright you claim to your submitted content. However, by posting your content or giving Wellsphere permission to post your content you automatically grant Wellsphere a royalty-free, paid-up, non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual license to (i) use, make, sell, offer to sell, have made, and further sublicense any such User Materials, and (ii) reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, publicly perform and publicly display the User Materials in any medium or format, whether now known or later developed…
I never knew that newspapers use to hire nurses. This nurse is working in a big city at the news desk. I wonder if she had to have a journalism degree as well as a nursing license in order to write copy for a media outlet back when nurses wore their cap. There was a time when only journalists wrote the news. Now anyone with a computer, a video camera, and a website can out scoop CNN. Kim from Emergiblog told me that some bloggers and a member of the press got into a debate at BlogWorld09. I wasn’t surprised to hear this because mainstream media thinks that its the only legitimate source for news. Come on mainstream media, we both know what’s really going on here. You have blogger envy.
