“Why aren’t you celebrating?”

While businesses applauded the recent Supreme Court ruling against mandatory vaccinations, the healthcare industry barely shrugged.

How come?

Buried in most news stories was one or two sentences about another outcome.  “This doesn’t apply to the medical industry.”

Come along as I share a personal story and seek solutions for our frontline heroes.

Effect of the Supreme Court Healthcare Ruling

Already reeling from major problems in the U.S. healthcare system, this news simply compounded things for hospital leadership and staff alike.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is a powerful entity that controls reimbursement for the industry.  Conducting regular surveys and complaint investigations, they are a fixture of the medical world.

Acting uncharacteristically like a political system, their mandate affected employees at:

• Hospitals
• Nursing homes
• Other healthcare facilities

Basically any place that receives federal funding.  According to the White House, it will affect 10.4 million workers and 76,000 facilities.    

Although in some cases religious and medical exemptions have been accepted, many foresee this option being removed soon.

In our state of California the deadlines are as follows:

• Phase 1 – January 27th  
• Phase 2 – February 28th  

Siding with their more liberal peers, Justices Kavanaugh and Roberts stated the mandate, “fits neatly within the language of the statute.”  In the case, dissents came from Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Coney Barrett.

What people outside of the industry (and some inside) don’t realize is, the U.S. healthcare system was already overburdened.

I’ll explain further.

Unrealistic Expectations

From the first appearance of the virus, hospitals prepared for a supposed massive flood of Covid patients. But despite what mainstream media sources reported, they remained underutilized for some time.* 

*Note: this information comes from reputable sources on the ground

It’s true that some patients were afraid to go in for routine procedures.  But even if they’d wanted to have their preventative care handled, the hospital couldn’t have seen them.

One can imagine this wasn’t good for the bottom line of their financial statements. 

When it comes to the amount of data collected, Big Tech might even look at healthcare with admiration.  

Because it’s so heavily regulated, there’s regular reporting to outside entities like CMS.  And to the Department of Public Health (county and state).  And to who knows where else.

Sources of required data in 2022:

1. Ongoing reporting (Leapfrog and others)
2. Employees (vaccination status; bi-weekly testing results if not vaccinated)
3. Visitors (vaccination status)

Most healthcare providers rolled their eyes at this last one, but had to comply regardless.

And how does a hospital collect, analyze, and report these numbers if they had to let go of their analytic and admin folks?  CMS would say, “not our problem.”

Moving on.

Hitting Close to Home

More than simply a fact-finding mission, this decision hit a special chord with me.  Why?

Someone I love dearly is caught in the crosshairs.  

Two points you should know before I go any further:

1. My Christian faith plays a major part in all decisions  
2. I consider myself a rational person 

So this ruling baffles me on two fronts.  

Being asked to take an experimental injection with cases of adverse reactions could significantly affect our family.  How?  

While I grow my fledgling business, this person is our main breadwinner.  If there is an injury and they can’t work, who will help us out?  

Not the pharmaceutical companies, because they’re shielded. On a side note, it’s ironic they have natural immunity from recourse.    

Fetal tissue is also a component in the injection, which conflicts with our faith.  These points aren’t speculation, they are facts.

For those who don’t think faith is enough, let’s tackle it logically.  

Medical freedom means each person should have the choice on what they inject into their bodies.  Sounds fair right?

And we need our healthcare heroes manning the front lines to help the sick.  So why are they forcing nurses, doctors, and other support staff to roll the dice with their own health?

This thought is purely my own, but perhaps it’s to break an already feeble healthcare system.  I hope I’m not right, but if I am…what can be done now? 

Need for a New Healthcare System

Previously I talked about the hub and spoke model being viable for adoption in rural America.  It would require coordination with urban centers, but it’s not an unreasonable thought.

Successful in Africa and India, there’s even an example in the U.S. that’s been going strong since the 80’s!  An awesome retired RN and entrepreneur in Australia originally brought this concept to my attention.  

Would a new healthcare system instantly solve all our problems?  Of course not.  However, there is tremendous upside.

• It would provide an option for displaced medical staff and patients
• It’d lead to healthcare innovation due to increased competition

Plus sharing of best practices could help shore up weaknesses in the mainstream system.

Now if this concept is controversial, why is that?  After all, the medical industry was created to put compassion before profits.

And isn’t it compassionate to treat all patients, regardless of vaccination status?  Even if we have differing views on the effectiveness of the vaccine, we should all agree on this.

Having suggested the possibility of a new healthcare system, where does digital marketing come into play?

Elijah Wordsmith Boosting a New Healthcare System

Beyond addressing the recent Supreme Court ruling and my personal convictions, I also presented a solution.  

So how am I doing my part to contribute to its realization?

Through high-quality healthcare content writing for the industry I love.  Going through cancer treatment, then assisting patients from the other side can have that effect.           

Elijah wordsmith content writing “verbalizes” the more individualized care current and prospective patients receive from your holistic practice. 

Bring the human side back to healthcare by sharing success stories of your patients or staff.  And enjoy a boost in patient retention and new referrals for a “practice that truly cares.” 

Take the first step towards standing out online and schedule a discovery call today!