Making Our Voices
Heard
Ronald Szabat, J.D., L.L.M., Director
Governmental and Legal Affairs
s
men and women of action, physicians are accustomed
to making things happen. As “everyday heroes,”
you medically examine patients, diagnose, treat or
prescribe with awe-inspiring alacrity and precision,
and you are rarely content to sit idly by and wait
to see what happens when your expertise is needed.
The very art and science of medicine, like the tide,
literally lifts all segments of health care to new
levels in daily practice.
As anesthesiologists, your physician role is unique.
You quite literally make life-and-death decisions
on a continual basis in the delivery of hands-on patient
medical care. Based on your particular medical education,
skills and experience, you are expert in all things
anesthetic or related to pain medicine or critical
care. Society literally depends on your anesthesiology
expertise to keep modern hospitals open and running
safely, particularly the operating rooms. ASA’s
leadership role in advancing patient safety is but
one manifestation of the professionalism each of our
41,000 members brings to bear each day.
Given this proud record of achievement and outstanding
daily practice, how can we best activate our numbers
— each and every one of you — to change
the face of how Congress, the Administration and state
governments respond to our messages and make health
care policy? Aren’t there national, state and
even local issues crying out for your expertise? Well,
the answers, as you might expect, do not lie in our
talking only among ourselves. Granted, ASA’s
policy-making bodies and its many committees and task
forces do vitally important work, but unless that
work is communicated externally, its value is greatly
diminished.
So, too, must be our thinking when it comes to legislative
and regulatory advocacy. Are we simply complaining
to each other, our families, partners and anyone else
who will listen? Are these the people who hold the
reins of power and who can act on our insights and
help us correct the problems and deficiencies of government-regulated
medicine and payment systems? Or are we taking the
necessary steps to learn, practice and use sophisticated
political skills and training so that our substantial
medical expertise can inform public policy choices?
My vote is for the latter, and I hope you share that
choice!
As I have long told physician audiences, if you don’t
contact, pester, cajole or petition Congress —
“that’s just the way they want it.”
This is not to say, of course, that our elected representatives
are malevolent or uncaring people. Quite the contrary,
most thrive on human interactions and love good political
or policy repartee. But too much of a good thing is
just that: too much. If you were elected to represent
a congressional district, a state or even a local
precinct, you would quickly find that your ability
to talk to more than a few handfuls of individual
constituents on a daily basis is greatly limited.
So does this mean that we shouldn’t bother these
fine public servants? Not at all. What it does mean
is that you need to be prepared, be precise and be
heard.
ASA is working to make it easy for the average hard-working
anesthesiologist to contact members of Congress or
the Administration. A mouse click on our new “Washington
Alerts” action box, right under “What’s
New?” on the ASA Web site takes you directly
to critical items that need your voice. Thereafter,
simple links and sample letters, easily modified and
edited, are yours for the sending by simply entering
your ZIP code and adding a few keystrokes. While you
might question the importance of these short electronic
communications, your failure to send these messages
actually works against us. Members of Congress are
impressed by both quantity and quality. Electronic
communications clearly supply the former, but when
they are preceded or followed by personal calls or
visits, they begin to add a greater value that cannot
be taken away or discounted. After all, you have medical
expertise and experience that Congress needs and wants
on multiple health issues, and there are weighty problems
that need to be addressed. So what are you waiting
for? Go for it!
Against this reinvigorated backdrop of Web-based advocacy,
our Resident Component is taking things a step further.
New podcasts have been initiated to help ASA’s
newer members get the information they need so that
prompt advocacy action can follow. And with our state
component members, a reinvigorated “key contact
program” is quickly taking form.
The future can only be brighter if we all do our part
to make it so. As you prepare to vote in the November
elections, cast a vote for yourselves by contacting
Congress today on an issue of vital importance.
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