Culture and Healthcare - Help Needed
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A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare
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Student Debt Relief
A generous donation to one health system is helping turn the tide. Black Family Philanthropies, which has a history of donating millions to healthcare in New York, just donated $5 million to pay off the student debts of more than 120 staffers in behavioral health at NYC Health + Hospitals. (CBS)
States With The Best Healthcare
Minnesota's health care system has long been recognized as one of the best in the country and a recent study has reinforced that viewpoint. According to a WalletHub study Minnesota's health care system is No. 1 in the nation, followed by Rhode Island and South Dakota. The study compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: cost, access and outcomes. (CBS)
Minnesota also has one of the country's best public hospital systems (No. 6) and life expectancy rates (No. 5). The study also notes the state's "extremely low maternal mortality rate" and relatively quick wait time at the emergency room (16 minutes).
Mississippi was ranked as the worst state for health care, followed by Alabama and West Virginia.
A Culture Shift Benefits Patients
We have previously reported that there is a cultural bias against people of color when it comes to pain management. Studies have found that many in the medical field believe that Black people feel less pain and so are not prescribed sufficient medication. There are a wide number of studies on the subject - here is one from the National Institutes of Health.
Black and Hispanic emergency department patients are less likely to receive opioids for pain than white patients who have the same elevated blood pressure or heart rate, according to a study released earlier this month by Epic Research.
Our culture has inherent bias that harms patients. Some have chosen to address that bias to benefit patients.
Seven states — California, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Delaware and Washington — have enacted laws requiring some level of implicit bias training for providers or medical students. California’s law mandates implicit bias training courses for nursing students. In Maryland every health professional has to have such training regularly to renew their license.
One 2019 study by Indiana University found physician residents and fellows had lower odds of demonstrating a treatment bias against Black patients with chronic pain after receiving an implicit bias intervention. The intervention gave the providers personalized feedback on their biases, as well as a broader perspective on how pain impacts Black individuals’ lives using videos and a virtual patient simulator.
Efforts to teach students and professionals about how to provide adequate care for patients of different backgrounds are instrumental in ensuring that they don’t go on to treat people of color differently when managing pain or any other condition. (Modern Healthcare)
So this is a good news story - the medical profession recognizes there is a cultural issue and they start addressing it by educating upcoming generations.
Reproductive Rights and Culture
We have taken actions over and over asking Congress to get in gear to restore the national right to choose by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act (S. 701/H.R. 12) and we will do that again today.
But first I want to introduce you to Dr. Layla Houshmand, PhD. She works in the medical world as a scientist.
She was 8 weeks pregnant and her vision became blurred, Her opthalmologist was not sure of the cause but told her that investigation could damage the fetus. Securing an abortion to preserve her vision took significant time as her regular doctor and medical facility were not interested in helping her, even though abortion is legal where she lives.
The delays incurred securing the abortion actually allowed a virus that was effecting her optic nerve to spread. She has permanently lost vision in that eye. Her pregnancy suppressed her immune system and allowed the viral infection to spread.
The real problem is that her medical professionals were focused on balancing fetal health and her health instead of focusing on the patient in front of them. This is the result of years of harping on rights of the fetus discussion that winds up ignoring the woman.
It does not help that there are exceptions to abortion bans for maternal health if they are vague and doctors are frightened to act. Our culture has shifted to such a point that the woman does not come first.
Here are links to her stories. 1. Jessica on Substack and Five thirty eight.
What fixes this is first, passing the Women’s Health Protection act and second a culture shift that focuses on maternal health. Just as doctors can be trained to remove color bias they can be trained to focus on women.
ACTION
Let’s remind our Member of Congress and Senators that we still do not have the Women’s Health Protection Act passed. The let’s let them know that implicit bias damages women as with Dr. Houshmand. You can reach them here, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.
Or use RESISTBOT via [Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER] or by texting SIGN PKTWTG to 50409 on your cell phone to send that message to our Senators and Members of Congress.
“I am your constituent and I want you to know that it is time for you to get the Women’s Health Protection Act up for a vote. It is S. 701/H.R. 12. Women are being abused and treated as 2nd class citizens without bodily autonomy and that is disgraceful. Think of discharge petitions, rules suspension, something but get this going. Lives are at risk and you are the only cavalry that can come to the rescue.
I want you to also know that our culture has shifted in the last 50 years. When a pregnant person presents to a doctor with a serious health concern, her health and rights are not always the doctor’s first concern, as they should be. Delaying treatment while considering the fetus can be deadly for the woman. Here you can read about Layla Houshmond, PhD, who lost sight in one eye to that kind of delay. Here is her story in her own words, https://jessica.substack.com/p/guest-post-restore-roe-isnt-enough.
You can help repair this too by demanding that medical and nursing schools, who receive federal funding, train students in treating women first. This kind of training has been shown to work in overcoming the inherent bias treating people of color differently with respect to managing pain, and it can work here too. Please get on it as there is no reason to force women to suffer needlessly. Thank you”
Resources
Find My Elected Officials
Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email
Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
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Done!✅ Happy to sign - what a horrid story. Reminds me of my first management job where a young mother / pregnant patient in a vegetative state was being kept alive until her fetus could be safely delivered. Her disease? Melanoma that was not treated because she was pregnant and chemotherapy would have harmed the fetus. 😳