I wish I could have been around when our founding fathers had the discussions regarding church and state, when they spoke of freedoms and rights and responsibilities. It sure would provide some necessary context and intent right now in our current political climate.

But until I have the opportunity to travel back through the space-time continuum, I just wish that religion and politics would go to separate neutral corners and stay there.

As Sergeant Joe Friday always used to say, “Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts”. So let’s at least stick with the facts as a starting point.

We all know that freedom of speech and freedom of religion are laid out in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. But the problem exists when the facts get bent for political gain, or when religious intolerance disguises itself as freedom of speech.

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Self care always sounds like a good idea in principle – until it starts to impact your bottom line as a clinician. That may sound a little outrageous at first, but in harsh reality (and given the state of incentives in our reimbursement structure) it isn’t far from the truth. As much as health care providers espouse beliefs of “wanting the patient to become independent”, independence ultimately means no visits and no reimbursement. Clinicians straddle a fine line between these two conflicting issues of “independence” and “economic survival”.

The issue of self care is an intriguing discussion with other clinicians. If you delve deep enough, self care is almost perceived as a threat.

The question is this: is self care a threat to traditional health care as we know it, or is it the next great disruptive innovation in health care?

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I am sure that we really shouldn’t have expected much this season. Considering that the Longhorns have played 20 freshman over the course of the first few games, it appears that they are thinking about the long term plan. But the University of Texas got off to a fast start, and lulled everyone into a Top 25, errr, fringes-of-the-Top-10 ranking (depending on the poll you read).

That was the mistake. This team really shouldn’t be looking at a Top 25 ranking. What makes matters worse is that they would be forced to play two Top 10 teams in consecutive weeks. The truth would be revealed. Quickly. The Longhorns have been 7 – 0 the week after an OU loss. Until now.

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In the Industrial Age, information was scarce, expensive, institutionally-oriented, and designed for consumption. This certainly sounds like traditional health care to me. The antiquated gatekeeper model of care that accompanies it is built on paternalism, turf battles and legalized monopolies.

But the times are changing. Welcome to the Information Age, where information is abundant, cheap, personally-oriented, and designed for participation. It is a time when patients are more than capable of making informed decisions about not only their health care but their choice of provider as well.

Sadly, the health care system remains firmly rooted in the Industrial Age. It is time for health care to move into the Information Age, to catch up with patients and provide them with truly patient-centered care.

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