by Julie Martinez, Patient Council member
Beginning last spring, members of the RCA patient council from around the country have been meeting by video and phone conference every month to discuss ways we can promote the RCA’s goal of transforming our dysfunctional, profit-driven “sick care” system into a high-quality, universal, equitable system which promotes genuine health and well-being. Our members bring a wealth of experience as patients, clinicians and community members to our conversations. We are a passionate and dedicated bunch who have worked in a broad range of roles and organizations to promote better, safer, more patient-focused, more affordable, and more equitable healthcare.
Looking at the year ahead, our Patient Council has decided to focus our efforts on one or more specific topics within the wider RCA goal of healthcare transformation. A working group has been set up within our council to explore and discuss options for possible future areas of focus for us, particularly areas in which we can take meaningful action right away. Our working group has been named the “Focus Area Selection Team” (FAST) and I have agreed to be the team lead.
We’d love to get input and ideas about actionable priorities for the year ahead from a range of contributors. If you’d like to help us brainstorm, please join the Patient Council and send email to patientcouncil@rightcarealliance.org letting us know you’d like to join the Focus Area Selection Team working group. Our members are volunteers and everyone is busy, so we plan to communicate mostly via email in order to keep the time commitment flexible.
Please consider joining our team and sharing your ideas about how we can transform our healthcare system to benefit us all!