Connecticut
Post posts about what is happening in the State of Connecticut.
Gov Malloy and Healthcare
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 10:09I am at a conference, so I don’t have as much time to write about this as I would like, but I want to highlight two recent articles about Gov. Malloy’s meeting with hospital executives, CTNewsJunkie and CT Mirror.
"I want to say at the outset that I would trade my deficit for any one of yours today," Malloy told hospital executives and trustees at the Connecticut Hospital Association headquarters in Wallingford.
The CT Mirror article goes on to say
"I think there are hospitals represented in this room that need to rethink their relationships with community health centers," he said
As the social media manager for Community Health Center, Inc., I want to make two comments. First, I am speaking on my own behalf, and not on behalf of the health center.
That said, I think Gov. Malloy is on the mark on this. We need to stop spending so much time on arguing about which services should be cut or where new revenues should be sought, and focus more on increasing efficiency. To the extent that hospitals can encourage patients to establish a relationship with a primary care provider and get regular routine treatment at a health center, hospitals, health centers, and the government all benefit by people being healthier at less expense.
Update: During break, I spent time talking with a woman from St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT about social media and health care in Connecticut. We're starting the sort of discussions Gov. Malloy recommends.
Hebron Maple Fest
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 03/12/2011 - 20:43This weekend is the Hebron Maple Fest. It is another one of those Connecticut events we try to get to every year. This year was a little more difficult than other years. I am leaving on a business trip on Sunday so we really need to go to the festival today.
However, Fiona had play practice in the morning. Kim was supposed to go to a political event, but was sick. I walked Wesley while Fiona was at practice, ran some errands, and then picked up Fiona.
Finally, around noon, we got on the road. We stopped in Middletown, where we picked up Orlando, a friend of mine from work. The three of us then proceeded to the festival.
It was about the same as other years. We parked about the same place we usually do, walked down to the Democrat’s booth where Fiona had a grilled cheese sandwich and I had a maple cured ham, egg and cheese sandwich. On the way, we ran into Congressman Joe Courtney and State Senator Edith Prague. I chatted with both of them for a little while.
There were various dogs around, but we had decided not to bring Wesley. That would be just too complicated. Other years a greyhound rescue group has been there. This year there were lots of greyhounds, but I don’t know if any of them were available for adoption.
The Farmer’s Cow was there, giving away miniature ice cream sundaes. It was right next to the building with the quilts and Fiona, who had just finished her grilled cheese sandwich wanted to see them. She and Orlando went inside, and I hung out outside holding Fiona’s food. Later, I went inside and looked at the quilts and took some pictures.
Finally, we made it up to the Volunteer Fire Department. That was where we picked up the sugar on snow and maple cotton candy. Orlando had never had sugar on snow before and wasn’t sure what to expect. He doesn’t have a big sweet tooth, but enjoyed it anyway. However, I couldn’t convince him to have pickles with the sugar on snow.
After this we drove to a couple sugar houses. We ended of at Wenzel’s sugar house. They usually have a cow, and sometimes have a calf there. This year, there was a ten day old calf. Fiona greatly enjoyed being with the calf and even got a chance to feed it a little.
We picked up a half gallon of extra dark maple syrup. Most people like the light maple syrup, but we like it dark. The dark maple syrup is especially good in hard cider.
Finally, we headed back home. Kim was still sick in bed. I did a bit more laundry and started preparing for the trip tomorrow. It was a good day, tiring but good. I just hope Kim feels better soon.
(P.S. Pictures are up in my 2011 Hebron Maple Fest Set on Flickr.)
Party With A Purpose
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 20:38Monday evening, I went to a birthday party for Mark Masselli and Jennifer Alexander. Mark is the president and CEO of Community Health Center, Inc, where I work, and his wife Jennifer is a co-founder of Kid City in Middletown. They billed the event as their 105th birthday party, combining the age of the two of them.
The event took place at Eli Cannon’s in Middletown and was well attended by friends from work, various political figures that I knew and numerous other people whom I didn’t know or whom I was meeting for the first time.
In many ways, it was not really all that different from so many big birthday parties that I’ve attended. However, there was one thing in particular that set the event apart. Not only did they encourage attendees to donate to local non-profit organizations, but they pledge to match the gifts with a donation of their own to a local non-profit.
One of the nonprofits that benefited from this is Oddfellows Playhouse which lost 36 years worth of props and costumes when the building they were stored in collapsed earlier this year.
Another nonprofit benefitting from the support is The Buttonwood Tree. This is the music venue where I went to see Harpeth Rising during their Connecticut tour.
All in all, it was a great event, and hopefully others will be inspired to have similar parties with a purpose.
Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 07:19
Dr. Strong, Meet Mr. Friedman
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 02/05/2011 - 18:05As social media manager for Community Health Center, Inc. in Connecticut, I try to build healthy communities using online tools. It requires trying to stay on top of news about technology and health care and spending time thinking about things like the relationships between doctors and their patients.
Last week, I read two interesting articles. The first was the Health Topics report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. It said
Eight in ten internet users look online for health information, making it the third most popular online activity among all those included in the Pew Internet Project’s surveys.
Of that, 44% of Internet users have looked online for information about doctors or other health professionals.
Let me digress for a moment. I am writing this on my own blog on my own time and it expresses my own opinions and not necessarily those of CHC. This blog post also has a little criticism of CHC. It is generally poor form to criticize one’s employer in a blog, even if such speech may be protected, but I am hoping that the criticism will be taken as something constructive and I will be given a chance to help address the criticism.
CHC does not do as good a job as I wish it did in providing information about its medical providers online. We’re having some good discussions about it, but it isn’t there yet. On the other hand, many health organizations fail in this category, and some make CHC seem stellar.
This brings me to the second article I read last week, and the title for this blog post. A Texas television station ran a story about Doctors asking patients to sign gag orders to stop unfavorable online comments.
To me, this is a red flag. I’m a free speech fanatic. Any doctor asking me to sign something like this is sending a message that they aren’t very good and they want it hidden. It is sort of like the doctors offices that have big posters asking patients to support tort reform. A doctor that is telling me that they are really concerned about how much money they could be sued for also seems to be telling me that maybe they aren’t that good. Side note: I recognize the issues of malpractice insurance premiums, so this second concern is not as prominent for me, although I will admit that I’ve left practices because of their strong advocacy for tort reform.
Back to the gag orders: A few years ago I heard Tom Friedman talk at Personal Democracy Forum. He was talking about the power of the Internet in politics and the importance of political figures having websites. The phrase that I remember him saying was something like,
On the Internet, either you do it, or someone does it to you.
These doctors that are asking patients to sign gag orders are missing this key aspect of what the Internet has done for American life. We have more of a conversation. Good doctors join in conversations with their patients. They make their practices patient centered.
CHC, from what I’ve seen is a leader in patient centered medicine. There is much that can be written about that, and I hope to, over the coming days. Unlike the doctors from Texas, CHC, as well as other high quality health centers around the country should take Tom Friedman’s lead and facilitate patients talking about their practices. Those who fail to do so are perhaps hiding their light under a basket.
By encouraging comments, we may get a few negative comments. No matter what you do, you are likely to get a few. If you are lucky, they will be ones that you can learn from, and get better. However, I suspect that CHC, given its great staff, will get many more comments like the one on the Google Place page, Community Health Center Inc: Gellrich Gabriella MD:
Finally!! Real doctors who listen to the problems of their patients rather than just giving a nod and pretending they understand or care. Everyone from the reception desk to the physicians were helpful, knowledgeable, and respectful. I had no problems contacting them on the phone to set up appointments in the two years of going to them. They are, in my humble opinion, the best health care providers in the Danbury area.
One friend said that perhaps Friedman has it wrong and instead of saying ‘they will do it to you’, he should have said, they will do it for you. Politicians, and doctors, who are afraid of the public, are likely to be afraid people with ‘do it to them’. Politicians, and doctors, who are well respected should hope that the public will ‘do it for them’. CHC has every reason to believe that its patients will spread the word and do it for us.
