Political Platform

Health Care

I have listened to the past, charged woes of the need to help the uninsured because all Americans should have access to health care. The words and charges are carefully framed and apparently many people believe this for we now have the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA or ObamaCare). Wow, it sounded like the United States was an oppressive nation denying health care. HUH? It is law that every hospital must accept and treat those who present themselves to the Emergency Room at any hospital. Those that have insurance will be asked to provide the insurance information and those who do not will be seen and treated, even if they have no insurance. Thank you United States of American for such a law that will insure that every person will have access to health treatment in a time of emergency (most occasions are not true emergencies). This seems in conflict with the frenzied claims that we are a nation, which does not provide healthcare to the needy.

As an engineer, I know the three most important actions in any project are to define the requirement, define the requirement and define the requirement. I also know that this must be done in writing and that there is an associated cost for the effort. How much? Maybe five percent? It varies depending on many factors. I also know that there must be a clearly articulated and defined Statement of Work and a List of Deliverables. Hmmmmm. Was this done with Obama Care? I don't know, but based on all the problems, it appears not to have been done. Also, given all the difficulties and horrendous costs incurred for the relatively small return (and we have no baseline to determine this), I suspect it would have been less costly just to have enrolled those without healthcare and let us, the taxpayers, pay their premiums – I think it would have been cheaper for all of us. Sometimes the difficult must be done, sort like amputating a gangrenous limb. Stop Obama Care, use the information gained from the experience and start over, starting with Define the Requirement.

We are a high-tech nation with very sophisticated skills. Why do I have to keep giving information to every doctor I visit. Why doesn't one doctor have access to the information from another one of my doctors? Sure I can develop my own information database. Given our technical sophistication on the newest capabilities of information sharing facilitated by the “Cloud”, please give us a common medical database of our medical information, with appropriate safeguards and security. I believe this would truly be a small measure, a very doable measure, which would improve health care.

As a non-relevant item of information, at one time, when the use of databases and database management systems became popular, the word database was also used as two separate words… data base. I, yes me, was responsible, in part, for standardizing the term as a single word, “database”. No, I did not invent the Internet, but I was instrumental in creating the standard for database. It happened at a meeting at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in 1985. Note: NBS had a name change and they are now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST. The confusion came up during a meeting and I suggested to the meeting chairman that we immediately create the standard. He said that after the meeting he would present the suggestion to the proper department – he did, and now you know….thank you.