Here in what is normally sunny, warm San Diego, hundreds of people from children’s hospitals across the country have gathered for their annual spring meeting. The topics at the NACHRI meeting are varied, from public relations and fund-raising tactics, to quality inprovement programs and how to partner with community agencies.
And like with most professional conferences, there is also a lot of “networking,” getting together with old colleagues and making new ones. When this group meets, the competitive shields are checked at the doors (mostly) and the war stories come out … we talk and we empatize.
One topic that is on everyone’s mind is, of course, health care reform. President Obama is really pushing it … demanding an up and down vote. Not matter the outcome, things are bound to change in our industry. As we’ve been saying for months (and really for years), the type of reform health care really needs is reform from within. Oh sure, we believe every child needs to have access to the best possible care. And that may take government intervention.
But we have the tools on our own to make a lot of changes. We can save money. We can reduce errors. We can improve outcomes.
So as I sit by the beach with my colleagues this week in San Diego, we talk about solutions. We look outward. And we look inward. And then we look at the blazing red sun settle into the Pacific Ocean.
We must not let the children down.