Yesterday, I had to install a security update on my work PC that required a reboot. I dutifully closed the 20 or so windows of stuff I had open, making sure I had saved each document. Later that day, I went to open a draft of a whitepaper on the use of electronic data sources for drug safety surveillance as a follow-on to BearingPoint's work on the eHealth Initiative Connecting Communities for Drug Safety Toolkit.
No document. No trace. Nada.
I can't recall the last time I've totally lost a document or file. I backup my hard drive, archive email and am pretty religious about hitting the save button (seems my spiritual calling has been downgraded from saving souls to saving documents, but that's another story). But the biggest change that's happened, frankly, is that Microsoft has gotten pretty good at making sure documents don't get lost when their applications crash. They crash pretty often still, but at least when they do, you can almost always pick up the pieces.
I had already put in several hours over three days into editing this paper and was probably less than an hour from finishing. With extreme diligence, I look through every option I could think of to find it. Hidden file searches, Google Desktop, looking to see if I had named it something else accidentally in the process of saving it. In the end, I figured that I had been saving the temporary internet file of the draft that had been sent to me via email. But when I opened it again from the email, another instance of the document - Whitepaper(2).doc - came up containing none of my changes.
The path address for that file was in the Temporary Internet File folder a couple of subfolders down. But when I looked in the TIF folder, there were no subfolders showing - even though I had made sure that all "hidden" files would show.
I gave up, resigned to the idea that I would spend a good part of the weekend rebuilding what I had already done.
My favorite time of the day is that place between when I wake up and when I get up. Things become clearer during that intersticial space between dreams and reality. It's when I'm best at figuring out puzzles whose solutions have eluded me - be they that one last line in the lyric of a song, a business issue or trying to remember where I left my sunglasses.
Today when I returned to my computer, I typed the file path into my Windows Explorer browser and the hidden files appeared one by one. There among the hundreds of temporary files was a beautiful sight - my lost file.
The weekend is saved - or at least it gave me enough time to treat myself to a little blogging...
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
NCPDP Modeling & Methodology Road Map
Yesterday, I sent this email to a bunch of folks working on creating a new road map for developing pharmacy and ePrescribing-related standards through NCPDP, the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, a standards development organization. Too often, volunteers like these never get the credit or thanks they deserve for working on something so esoteric and abstract, but that is, nevertheless, absolutely critical in my view to transforming the current healthcare system into something that actually resembles a system. If you're one of those people working on similar thankless initiatives, thanks to you too... and please, please keep up the good work.
To the members of the NCPDP Modeling and Methodology Road Map Task Group –
I got a lump in my throat reading this document today. That’s a good thing.
It took me back to 2005 and the many conversations Jim McCain and I had about how important data modeling will be to the future of NCPDP and our ability to create standards that are more readily interoperable with other healthcare information exchange standards. There wasn’t much of an appetite for these ideas back then – mostly because people didn’t know what the heck we were talking about. But the leaders of NCPDP also understood that we were in danger of building standards that, while effective in meeting current needs, could someday become a “bridge to nowhere” if we didn’t look at how they could be more aligned with standards used in other environments. So the group received the Board’s blessing and got up and running.
I wish I could have been more involved in this most recent work, but from what I’ve just read, you did more than fine without me. Point by point, you’ve articulated a set of rock-solid arguments for why we need to move toward model-based standards and have developed a clear road map for accomplishing that goal. I’m truly in awe of the quality of this document’s contents and how well they articulate a detailed approach to achieving what was an inexact if not impassioned notion three years ago.
What we have now is a way and a plan; what we still require is a means and the will to execute on this plan. NCPDP will be more effective in creating future standards by adopting a model-based approach using open-source tools. But our success in achieving the ultimate goal of creating semantic interoperability within healthcare will be severely limited unless we get the rest of the healthcare standards development community to follow a shared path. That’s why I believe that it’s extremely important that we quickly vet this work and share it with other SDOs – perhaps through our ongoing SDO summit meetings.
Workgroup 15 – Sample Management and Activity Reporting Transactions for Safety – will be starting work on developing draft standards for drug sample data so samples can be managed through electronic prescribing systems and included in medication histories. It’s a fairly small and simple domain relative to others and it may be a good environment in which to work through the soup-to-nuts modeling process so that we can further refine it. We would need a modeler to join our task group, but would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate this capability.
If I go on much further, they’ll have to cue the orchestra to begin playing “America the Beautiful”, so I’ll just offer one more thought: The main reason I felt so compelled to blather on about your work is because I’ve experienced the gratitude of a patient whose life was saved or made better because of something I did back when I was involved in direct patient care. Sadly, people won’t be coming up to you in the street to give you hugs because of how you changed their lives. That’s too bad because this work will ultimately impact more people than any individual doctor, nurse or pharmacist ever could. I just wanted to let you know that someone sees it, understands its relevance, and wants to thank you deeply.
Thank you, thank you.
Ross
To the members of the NCPDP Modeling and Methodology Road Map Task Group –
I got a lump in my throat reading this document today. That’s a good thing.
It took me back to 2005 and the many conversations Jim McCain and I had about how important data modeling will be to the future of NCPDP and our ability to create standards that are more readily interoperable with other healthcare information exchange standards. There wasn’t much of an appetite for these ideas back then – mostly because people didn’t know what the heck we were talking about. But the leaders of NCPDP also understood that we were in danger of building standards that, while effective in meeting current needs, could someday become a “bridge to nowhere” if we didn’t look at how they could be more aligned with standards used in other environments. So the group received the Board’s blessing and got up and running.
I wish I could have been more involved in this most recent work, but from what I’ve just read, you did more than fine without me. Point by point, you’ve articulated a set of rock-solid arguments for why we need to move toward model-based standards and have developed a clear road map for accomplishing that goal. I’m truly in awe of the quality of this document’s contents and how well they articulate a detailed approach to achieving what was an inexact if not impassioned notion three years ago.
What we have now is a way and a plan; what we still require is a means and the will to execute on this plan. NCPDP will be more effective in creating future standards by adopting a model-based approach using open-source tools. But our success in achieving the ultimate goal of creating semantic interoperability within healthcare will be severely limited unless we get the rest of the healthcare standards development community to follow a shared path. That’s why I believe that it’s extremely important that we quickly vet this work and share it with other SDOs – perhaps through our ongoing SDO summit meetings.
Workgroup 15 – Sample Management and Activity Reporting Transactions for Safety – will be starting work on developing draft standards for drug sample data so samples can be managed through electronic prescribing systems and included in medication histories. It’s a fairly small and simple domain relative to others and it may be a good environment in which to work through the soup-to-nuts modeling process so that we can further refine it. We would need a modeler to join our task group, but would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate this capability.
If I go on much further, they’ll have to cue the orchestra to begin playing “America the Beautiful”, so I’ll just offer one more thought: The main reason I felt so compelled to blather on about your work is because I’ve experienced the gratitude of a patient whose life was saved or made better because of something I did back when I was involved in direct patient care. Sadly, people won’t be coming up to you in the street to give you hugs because of how you changed their lives. That’s too bad because this work will ultimately impact more people than any individual doctor, nurse or pharmacist ever could. I just wanted to let you know that someone sees it, understands its relevance, and wants to thank you deeply.
Thank you, thank you.
Ross
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
William F. Buckley, Jr. - 1925-2008
William F. Buckley, Jr. - 1925-2008
Newsweek's cover story on the death of the voice of right wing political commentary prompted me to read again a copy of a letter of thanks Mr. Buckley wrote to my grandmother, which I keep framed in my office. Though I may not have agreed with his political views and probably have more affinity to his son, Christopher Buckley (still waiting for the brilliant Little Green Men to come out as a film - too bad his father will no longer be around to play the main character), I can't help but appreciate his skill as a writer. But judge for yourself...
Newsweek's cover story on the death of the voice of right wing political commentary prompted me to read again a copy of a letter of thanks Mr. Buckley wrote to my grandmother, which I keep framed in my office. Though I may not have agreed with his political views and probably have more affinity to his son, Christopher Buckley (still waiting for the brilliant Little Green Men to come out as a film - too bad his father will no longer be around to play the main character), I can't help but appreciate his skill as a writer. But judge for yourself...
June 8, 1967
Mrs. Joseph A. Martin
Box 518
Big Stone Gap,
VA
Dear Mrs. Martin:
Your gift has given us heart. It's too early, as yet, to know for sure whether we will make it, but if enough others respond as generously as you have done, the prospects are good. We can only hope.And hope, also, that you have some idea how much you mean to us. Not only concretely - your contribution will mean the survival of the magazine if, as I say, there are others as generous as you - but also spiritually. We write sometimes into a void. We see, of course, the effect we have in some specific instances - an article read into the Congressional Record, a student debate based on some of the things we write, letters from practical politicians who are moved by some of the analyses we publish. But our donors are, for the most part, a silent lot, in the highest traditions of philanthropy. But when the magazine staggers under the load, you come in from the shadows, and help us up from our knees. Perhaps someone once behaved towards you in that way, in which case you will know the measure of our gratitude.
Yours faithfully,
Wm. F. Buckley, Jr.
It reminds me of Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby, when he had to inform her of the loss of five of her sons to the war. Form letters just don't cut it...
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Announcement of New Position at BearingPoint
Announcement of New Position at BearingPoint
BearingPoint sent out a press release today announcing my new role as Director of Health Information Convergence within the Healthcare and Life Sciences Segment of the organization. I thought that title would be pretty decriptive of what I will be doing in this new phase of my career. But, perhaps more importantly, the title maximizes my opportunity for involvement while minimizing my accountability for anything approaching tangible results. If I'm successful (not that there's really any way to measure success), I might have a shot at becoming BearingPoint's Chief Paradigm Officer...
On a less silly note, I'm very excited about the new job and have already found opportunities to make myself useful. Below is a brief description of what I see my role becoming over time, which is followed by the press release.
What I’m Doing at Bearingpoint
I worked for Pfizer for six years beginning in 2001. My last four years there focused heavily on Health Information Technology (HIT) standards and policies and the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and Electronic Prescribing (eRx), Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Personal Health Records (PHRs), and the emerging Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN). About a year ago, my commercially focused informatics group merged with one from Research & Development, giving us a much-needed opportunity to build a more consistent approach to HIT across the organization. And it gave me the chance to look at ways that HIT policies and standards affect the R&D side of the organization.
The recent changes at Pfizer (continual announcements of reorganization, adapting to scale, and “transformation”) made it increasingly difficult to focus on external environmental activities that, while truly transformational, were really in support of the long-term redesign entire pharmaceutical industry, not just Pfizer’s. While Pfizer was very supportive of the work, in the context of the short-term focus of the organization, it was difficult to justify some of the larger initiatives that wouldn’t return any direct value to Pfizer for several years. I was being courted by several consulting firms that were familiar with my work and history and made the decision to pursue one of these opportunities with BearingPoint.
Like many of its competitors, BearingPoint, is involved in many different industry sectors. In healthcare, we have deep relationships with many Life Sciences companies (including Pfizer) and with hospital systems, Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) and others as systems integrators and strategy consultants. We implement large-scale systems like Cerner, McKesson, Epic, etc. We also do a lot of work for HHS and serve as the Project Management Office for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC or ONCHIT). From this vantage point, BearingPoint has asked me to find ways to make use of all these points of involvement and create synergies between them.
Matching patients to clinical trials through Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) is but one example of this kind of opportunity. My ideal scenario would be to build a coalition of entities – including various RHIOs, IDNs and a core group of Life Sciences companies – to collaborate on common methods for health information exchange related to clinical research. In this way, we can help defray some of the long-term costs related to enabling these capabilities while tying them to real-world implementations.
One more specific example is the work I’ve been doing over the last few years on HL7’s Guideline Expression Language, GELLO. I’ve been working with a number of collaborators to develop open source authoring tools for creating standardized clinical expressions GELLO that can be used for many purposes in clinical care – including matching patients to clinical trials. Materials on this work are available at http://www.gello.org/. There is a video in particular that goes over its use in prior authorization that may be of interest.
The Press Release
Contact
Jodi Cohen
Director, Global Communications
201.705.8832
jodi.cohen@bearingpoint.com
For immediate release
BearingPoint Names Dr. Ross D. Martin
Director of Health Information Convergence
McLean, Va., April 25, 2007 – BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE), one of the world’s largest management and technology consulting firms, today announced the appointment of Dr. Ross Martin, as director of Health Information Convergence in the Global Healthcare and Life Sciences practice (HLS). He brings more than 15 years of experience in healthcare as an obstetrician, urgent-care physician, health information technology (HIT) journalist, managed care and medical informatics consultant, and for the last six years, medical informatician at Pfizer.
Martin will be responsible for cultivating opportunities in BearingPoint’s HLS segment (hospital, physician, payer, government and life sciences) to accelerate information flow among healthcare stakeholders through HIT. Martin brings key skills to the firm’s strong position in the ePrescribing area of the life sciences industry, and he supplements the firm’s complement of physician consultants across all sectors of BearingPoint’s HLS segment.
Most recently, Martin was the director of Healthcare Informatics at Pfizer Inc. where he initiated and led many of Pfizer’s efforts to influence national standards and policies for electronic prescribing, electronic health records, personal health records, online medical education and the emerging Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN).
Martin serves on the Consumer Empowerment Workgroup of the American Health Information Community and on the boards of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and the HIT Standards Panel. He has conducted in-depth field research in eRx and advocated for and led a cross-industry volunteer team in the creation of a standards-mapping guidance document enabling the exchange of electronic prescriptions between inpatient and outpatient settings in the U.S.
“We are thrilled to announce the appointment of such an accomplished medical professional,” said Phil Garland, senior vice president and head of the Global Life Sciences practice. “Martin’s experience in health informatics, policy, business and clinical medicine combined with BearingPoint’s deep industry expertise will allow us to help build a more consistent approach toward HIT across pharmaceutical organizations.”
“I am excited to join BearingPoint’s Global Healthcare and Life Sciences practice and look forward to contributing even more to the transformation of both the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries through the convergence of clinical research and clinical care,” said Martin. “By working with BearingPoint colleagues embedded throughout healthcare and other industries, I hope to help leverage our unique position as a global company capable of both developing and implementing the array of strategies necessary to build synergies among life sciences companies, healthcare providers, payers and other stakeholders.”
Martin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Wright State University, received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati and earned a masters degree of health services administration from Xavier University. He also held a National Institute of Health fellowship in medical informatics at the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology.
About BearingPoint, Inc.
BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE) is one of the world's largest providers of management and technology consulting services to Global 2000 companies and government organizations in 60 countries worldwide. Based in McLean, Va., the firm has over 17,000 employees and major practice areas focusing on the Public Services, Financial Services and Commercial Services markets. For nearly 100 years, BearingPoint professionals have built a reputation for knowing what it takes to help clients achieve their goals, and working closely with them to get the job done. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.BearingPoint.com.
Some of the statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections. Words such as “will,” “expects,” “believes” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions and as such are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions as to future events or our future financial performance that may not prove to be accurate. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak only as of the date they were made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
BearingPoint sent out a press release today announcing my new role as Director of Health Information Convergence within the Healthcare and Life Sciences Segment of the organization. I thought that title would be pretty decriptive of what I will be doing in this new phase of my career. But, perhaps more importantly, the title maximizes my opportunity for involvement while minimizing my accountability for anything approaching tangible results. If I'm successful (not that there's really any way to measure success), I might have a shot at becoming BearingPoint's Chief Paradigm Officer...
On a less silly note, I'm very excited about the new job and have already found opportunities to make myself useful. Below is a brief description of what I see my role becoming over time, which is followed by the press release.
What I’m Doing at Bearingpoint
I worked for Pfizer for six years beginning in 2001. My last four years there focused heavily on Health Information Technology (HIT) standards and policies and the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and Electronic Prescribing (eRx), Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Personal Health Records (PHRs), and the emerging Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN). About a year ago, my commercially focused informatics group merged with one from Research & Development, giving us a much-needed opportunity to build a more consistent approach to HIT across the organization. And it gave me the chance to look at ways that HIT policies and standards affect the R&D side of the organization.
The recent changes at Pfizer (continual announcements of reorganization, adapting to scale, and “transformation”) made it increasingly difficult to focus on external environmental activities that, while truly transformational, were really in support of the long-term redesign entire pharmaceutical industry, not just Pfizer’s. While Pfizer was very supportive of the work, in the context of the short-term focus of the organization, it was difficult to justify some of the larger initiatives that wouldn’t return any direct value to Pfizer for several years. I was being courted by several consulting firms that were familiar with my work and history and made the decision to pursue one of these opportunities with BearingPoint.
Like many of its competitors, BearingPoint, is involved in many different industry sectors. In healthcare, we have deep relationships with many Life Sciences companies (including Pfizer) and with hospital systems, Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) and others as systems integrators and strategy consultants. We implement large-scale systems like Cerner, McKesson, Epic, etc. We also do a lot of work for HHS and serve as the Project Management Office for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC or ONCHIT). From this vantage point, BearingPoint has asked me to find ways to make use of all these points of involvement and create synergies between them.
Matching patients to clinical trials through Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) is but one example of this kind of opportunity. My ideal scenario would be to build a coalition of entities – including various RHIOs, IDNs and a core group of Life Sciences companies – to collaborate on common methods for health information exchange related to clinical research. In this way, we can help defray some of the long-term costs related to enabling these capabilities while tying them to real-world implementations.
One more specific example is the work I’ve been doing over the last few years on HL7’s Guideline Expression Language, GELLO. I’ve been working with a number of collaborators to develop open source authoring tools for creating standardized clinical expressions GELLO that can be used for many purposes in clinical care – including matching patients to clinical trials. Materials on this work are available at http://www.gello.org/. There is a video in particular that goes over its use in prior authorization that may be of interest.
The Press Release
Contact
Jodi Cohen
Director, Global Communications
201.705.8832
jodi.cohen@bearingpoint.com
For immediate release
BearingPoint Names Dr. Ross D. Martin
Director of Health Information Convergence
McLean, Va., April 25, 2007 – BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE), one of the world’s largest management and technology consulting firms, today announced the appointment of Dr. Ross Martin, as director of Health Information Convergence in the Global Healthcare and Life Sciences practice (HLS). He brings more than 15 years of experience in healthcare as an obstetrician, urgent-care physician, health information technology (HIT) journalist, managed care and medical informatics consultant, and for the last six years, medical informatician at Pfizer.
Martin will be responsible for cultivating opportunities in BearingPoint’s HLS segment (hospital, physician, payer, government and life sciences) to accelerate information flow among healthcare stakeholders through HIT. Martin brings key skills to the firm’s strong position in the ePrescribing area of the life sciences industry, and he supplements the firm’s complement of physician consultants across all sectors of BearingPoint’s HLS segment.
Most recently, Martin was the director of Healthcare Informatics at Pfizer Inc. where he initiated and led many of Pfizer’s efforts to influence national standards and policies for electronic prescribing, electronic health records, personal health records, online medical education and the emerging Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN).
Martin serves on the Consumer Empowerment Workgroup of the American Health Information Community and on the boards of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and the HIT Standards Panel. He has conducted in-depth field research in eRx and advocated for and led a cross-industry volunteer team in the creation of a standards-mapping guidance document enabling the exchange of electronic prescriptions between inpatient and outpatient settings in the U.S.
“We are thrilled to announce the appointment of such an accomplished medical professional,” said Phil Garland, senior vice president and head of the Global Life Sciences practice. “Martin’s experience in health informatics, policy, business and clinical medicine combined with BearingPoint’s deep industry expertise will allow us to help build a more consistent approach toward HIT across pharmaceutical organizations.”
“I am excited to join BearingPoint’s Global Healthcare and Life Sciences practice and look forward to contributing even more to the transformation of both the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries through the convergence of clinical research and clinical care,” said Martin. “By working with BearingPoint colleagues embedded throughout healthcare and other industries, I hope to help leverage our unique position as a global company capable of both developing and implementing the array of strategies necessary to build synergies among life sciences companies, healthcare providers, payers and other stakeholders.”
Martin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Wright State University, received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati and earned a masters degree of health services administration from Xavier University. He also held a National Institute of Health fellowship in medical informatics at the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology.
About BearingPoint, Inc.
BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE) is one of the world's largest providers of management and technology consulting services to Global 2000 companies and government organizations in 60 countries worldwide. Based in McLean, Va., the firm has over 17,000 employees and major practice areas focusing on the Public Services, Financial Services and Commercial Services markets. For nearly 100 years, BearingPoint professionals have built a reputation for knowing what it takes to help clients achieve their goals, and working closely with them to get the job done. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.BearingPoint.com.
###
Some of the statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections. Words such as “will,” “expects,” “believes” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions and as such are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions as to future events or our future financial performance that may not prove to be accurate. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak only as of the date they were made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Charting a New Course
Charting a New Course
I sent this email to my co-workers at Pfizer last Friday. The responses I've received over the last week have been touching, sad, rewarding and profound. I have made many friends and am honored to have worked with such quality people.
Dear Pfizer Colleagues –
This is a very difficult message to write. After experiencing six remarkable years with Pfizer, I have decided to close this chapter of my career and begin a new one outside of the company. BearingPoint is in the process of aligning their Life Sciences and Healthcare practices and they have asked me to lead the effort in building their strategy around the convergence of clinical research and clinical care. My last day with Pfizer will be March 16th.
I’ve been discussing this possibility with my managers for several weeks now. In many ways, this change of venue is less a departure from Pfizer’s Healthcare Informatics team and more an extension of it. There are many times when it is easier to influence the external environment from an external vantage point. In this new capacity, I hope to become a strong ally and partner with Pfizer as it maintains its leadership position as the most forward-thinking pharmaceutical company in the realm of healthcare informatics. There is much to be done in the coming decade if we are to reap the potential benefits of bi-directional information flow and I look forward to laboring with all of you to make it happen.
I am deeply grateful for the many friends and mentors I have had the pleasure of knowing in the years since joining Pfizer in 2001. I have been privileged to work with colleagues from US Planning & Business Development, Pfizer Health Solutions, Business Technology, the Pfizer Strategic Investment Group, Worldwide Marketing, Medical Humanities and Pfizer Global Research and Development. With each new initiative, I gained increasing respect for the caliber of people who have built Pfizer into such a remarkable organization through their professionalism and passion.
More than anyone, though, I am indebted to Steve Labkoff, who recruited me into Pfizer so he could "clone himself" and move to a new position. A few years later, Steve became my manager. He has worked tirelessly to help me succeed in my efforts to increase the value of our medicines by influencing health information technology standards and policies. He advocated for my move to Washington, DC – a move that has significantly impacted the way others view Pfizer’s leadership and commitment to healthcare’s transformation. He protected me and my radical notions so they would have time to mature and gain acceptance. He reined me in when I ventured too far from the course. I doubt that I will ever receive the same level of commitment and support from a manager again.
The hardest part of this decision, in fact, has been the prospect of leaving Steve, David Isom, and my colleagues in PHI. Though we formed this team just a year ago, we quickly established a strong bond and rapport, both of which have only grown stronger over time. You will all be missed.
Unless BearingPoint hires another Ross Martin in the next couple of weeks, beginning March 26th I assume my new email address will be ross.martin @ bearingpoint.com. You can always keep track of me through my personal website at http://www.rossmartinmd.com/ where you can download songs, send email, read random musings on my blog or check out my son’s latest New Year’s poem (which is now available – a mere two months late – by clicking on "taylor jay").
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Regards,
Ross
I sent this email to my co-workers at Pfizer last Friday. The responses I've received over the last week have been touching, sad, rewarding and profound. I have made many friends and am honored to have worked with such quality people.
Dear Pfizer Colleagues –
This is a very difficult message to write. After experiencing six remarkable years with Pfizer, I have decided to close this chapter of my career and begin a new one outside of the company. BearingPoint is in the process of aligning their Life Sciences and Healthcare practices and they have asked me to lead the effort in building their strategy around the convergence of clinical research and clinical care. My last day with Pfizer will be March 16th.
I’ve been discussing this possibility with my managers for several weeks now. In many ways, this change of venue is less a departure from Pfizer’s Healthcare Informatics team and more an extension of it. There are many times when it is easier to influence the external environment from an external vantage point. In this new capacity, I hope to become a strong ally and partner with Pfizer as it maintains its leadership position as the most forward-thinking pharmaceutical company in the realm of healthcare informatics. There is much to be done in the coming decade if we are to reap the potential benefits of bi-directional information flow and I look forward to laboring with all of you to make it happen.
I am deeply grateful for the many friends and mentors I have had the pleasure of knowing in the years since joining Pfizer in 2001. I have been privileged to work with colleagues from US Planning & Business Development, Pfizer Health Solutions, Business Technology, the Pfizer Strategic Investment Group, Worldwide Marketing, Medical Humanities and Pfizer Global Research and Development. With each new initiative, I gained increasing respect for the caliber of people who have built Pfizer into such a remarkable organization through their professionalism and passion.
More than anyone, though, I am indebted to Steve Labkoff, who recruited me into Pfizer so he could "clone himself" and move to a new position. A few years later, Steve became my manager. He has worked tirelessly to help me succeed in my efforts to increase the value of our medicines by influencing health information technology standards and policies. He advocated for my move to Washington, DC – a move that has significantly impacted the way others view Pfizer’s leadership and commitment to healthcare’s transformation. He protected me and my radical notions so they would have time to mature and gain acceptance. He reined me in when I ventured too far from the course. I doubt that I will ever receive the same level of commitment and support from a manager again.
The hardest part of this decision, in fact, has been the prospect of leaving Steve, David Isom, and my colleagues in PHI. Though we formed this team just a year ago, we quickly established a strong bond and rapport, both of which have only grown stronger over time. You will all be missed.
Unless BearingPoint hires another Ross Martin in the next couple of weeks, beginning March 26th I assume my new email address will be ross.martin @ bearingpoint.com. You can always keep track of me through my personal website at http://www.rossmartinmd.com/ where you can download songs, send email, read random musings on my blog or check out my son’s latest New Year’s poem (which is now available – a mere two months late – by clicking on "taylor jay").
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Regards,
Ross
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Veritocracy - The Emerging Social Structure
Veritocracy
Thought I'd do some coindropping and coin a new word - veritocracy - a societal system based upon trust and value that is created through information transparency. eBay, I would argue, is a veritocracy because the market of exchange that exists is based upon trust. But the trust upon which it operates is not a blind trust. I am willing to wire money to a complete stranger on the Internet because I can see this person's history as a seller. Through a thousand prior sales, I can see the seller's track record of fast, honest and courteous dealings and know that I'm not going to get gouged. Even better, eBay itself has enough trust in its own system that I'm protected from fraud even if the seller does renege on the deal.
While I might trust that eBay seller enough to wire them $1,000 for a rare collectible on PayPal based upon their reputation as a seller, that trust doesn't necessarily translate to other types of trust. I wouldn't drop my son off at the seller's house and assume he or she is a good babysitter. In fact, the seller, for all I know, could be a pedophile who kidnaps children and stows them in the basement. As long as the seller honors the eBay rules of engagement, the seller can maintain a reputation as a "model citizen."
As deplorable as child molestation may be, it may not be a bad thing that these two domains are judged separately and one can be a model eBayer while keeping private other proclivities (note an article about eBayer revenge here). Eventually, we'll see personal trust histories on childcare, friendship, dating and the like (some of this is already happening) and the Semantic Web or similar technology will make it possible to have a composite credit record of social behavior. It's a little like Big Brother, but the Big Brother isn't some government monolith lording over us - Big Brother is us.
A good thing? A bad thing? I think it will be a valuable thing overall as we'll be able to apply value to all sorts of intangibles that currently aren't acknowledged except in villages where people spend an entire lifetime in one place and the histories of behavior are inescapable. Transparency like this tends to lead to better behavior (though what is considered good behavior may be very different in our global village over the hamlet).
More to say about this. But time, time, time...
Thought I'd do some coindropping and coin a new word - veritocracy - a societal system based upon trust and value that is created through information transparency. eBay, I would argue, is a veritocracy because the market of exchange that exists is based upon trust. But the trust upon which it operates is not a blind trust. I am willing to wire money to a complete stranger on the Internet because I can see this person's history as a seller. Through a thousand prior sales, I can see the seller's track record of fast, honest and courteous dealings and know that I'm not going to get gouged. Even better, eBay itself has enough trust in its own system that I'm protected from fraud even if the seller does renege on the deal.
While I might trust that eBay seller enough to wire them $1,000 for a rare collectible on PayPal based upon their reputation as a seller, that trust doesn't necessarily translate to other types of trust. I wouldn't drop my son off at the seller's house and assume he or she is a good babysitter. In fact, the seller, for all I know, could be a pedophile who kidnaps children and stows them in the basement. As long as the seller honors the eBay rules of engagement, the seller can maintain a reputation as a "model citizen."
As deplorable as child molestation may be, it may not be a bad thing that these two domains are judged separately and one can be a model eBayer while keeping private other proclivities (note an article about eBayer revenge here). Eventually, we'll see personal trust histories on childcare, friendship, dating and the like (some of this is already happening) and the Semantic Web or similar technology will make it possible to have a composite credit record of social behavior. It's a little like Big Brother, but the Big Brother isn't some government monolith lording over us - Big Brother is us.
A good thing? A bad thing? I think it will be a valuable thing overall as we'll be able to apply value to all sorts of intangibles that currently aren't acknowledged except in villages where people spend an entire lifetime in one place and the histories of behavior are inescapable. Transparency like this tends to lead to better behavior (though what is considered good behavior may be very different in our global village over the hamlet).
More to say about this. But time, time, time...
Thursday, April 27, 2006
The MedBiq Song
The MedBiq Song
Last night, I briefly performed at the 2006 Annual Conference of the MedBiquitous Consortium in Baltimore, MD. MedBiq is a standards development organization whose mission is to create a technology blueprint for professional healthcare education. I been serving on their Executive Committee for a few years, so when they found out that I had written a song for NCPDP's annual conference last year called "The Legend of Bob the DERF", they felt a little neglected. So I promised them a song too. (HL7 made the same request for their meeting coming up in September. At this rate, I figure I'll be able to put out a new CD - "Dr. Martin Does the Standards" - in a year or two.)
Here's the way I introduced the song and the lyrics. You can find a copy of the MP3 here.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is indeed an honor and a privilege to stand before you today and offer up this little ditty – a trifle, really. I recall with delight the day our own Dr. Peter Greene requested that I pen a musical work worthy of the institution that bears the name MedBiquitous.
MedBiquitous! Why, one requires a graduate degree to simply utter the word! No doubt, a banal pop song or a hippie folk tune or – God forbid! – a Country Western ballad would never suffice. For MedBiquitous was not slapped together by coin-counting merchants in the back alley of commerce – or hacked by pocket protector donning computer geeks locked deep in the fluorescently lit bowels of some faceless monolith – no! MedBiquitous was conceived in the hallowed halls of academia – even more, within the dome of Johns Hopkins University itself.
Clearly, there is but one musical genre sophisticated – yet playful – enough to satisfy the need of an institution of such noble birth and regal bearing – the operetta!
So I do hope that Masters Gilbert and Sullivan are shining down on us now as we present to you the world premier of “The MedBiq Song”. Maestro, if you please…
The MedBiq Song
(To the tune of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” by Gilbert and Sullivan)
If you want quality in CME activities to demonstrate
Or virtual reality for surgery to simulate
Or methods for ensuring that your Med Ed content's shareable
You'll find that there are many ways to do this that are terrible
If you need messages for transferring credentials proving licensure
Or means for tracking competence in ways you've never done before
Before you write me off and say this guy is just a dumb buffoon
Keep listening – I promise that you'll have your answer very soon
If you are posting all your healthcare publications on the Internet
But find that, when you search for them on Google, crap is all you get
Don't give up hope or sing the blues
Don't hang yourself or make a fuss
You'll be a hero if you use
Our standards from MedBiquitous
Yes, we have SCORM and LOM and XML and RSS as well as MEMS
And several more ridiculously complicated acronyms
That seem to have the solitary purpose of confusing you
Or making me seem smarter than the people I am singing to
But what we really seek are fundamental changes in the quality
Of everything related to all Med Ed methodology
We do this out of altruistic duty to posterity
(Though making loads of money in the process would be fine with me)
So if I've managed to persuade you or have piqued your curiosity
Please take to time to analyze MedBiquitous more carefully
And hurry down to Baltimore
Where all this stuff is happening
Whatever Med Ed has in store
You'll find our standards just the thing
Our task is great – we cannot do
This work alone, so join with us
Or kindy make a check out to
The order of MedBiquitous
© 2006 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
15 January 2006
Last night, I briefly performed at the 2006 Annual Conference of the MedBiquitous Consortium in Baltimore, MD. MedBiq is a standards development organization whose mission is to create a technology blueprint for professional healthcare education. I been serving on their Executive Committee for a few years, so when they found out that I had written a song for NCPDP's annual conference last year called "The Legend of Bob the DERF", they felt a little neglected. So I promised them a song too. (HL7 made the same request for their meeting coming up in September. At this rate, I figure I'll be able to put out a new CD - "Dr. Martin Does the Standards" - in a year or two.)
Here's the way I introduced the song and the lyrics. You can find a copy of the MP3 here.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is indeed an honor and a privilege to stand before you today and offer up this little ditty – a trifle, really. I recall with delight the day our own Dr. Peter Greene requested that I pen a musical work worthy of the institution that bears the name MedBiquitous.
MedBiquitous! Why, one requires a graduate degree to simply utter the word! No doubt, a banal pop song or a hippie folk tune or – God forbid! – a Country Western ballad would never suffice. For MedBiquitous was not slapped together by coin-counting merchants in the back alley of commerce – or hacked by pocket protector donning computer geeks locked deep in the fluorescently lit bowels of some faceless monolith – no! MedBiquitous was conceived in the hallowed halls of academia – even more, within the dome of Johns Hopkins University itself.
Clearly, there is but one musical genre sophisticated – yet playful – enough to satisfy the need of an institution of such noble birth and regal bearing – the operetta!
So I do hope that Masters Gilbert and Sullivan are shining down on us now as we present to you the world premier of “The MedBiq Song”. Maestro, if you please…
The MedBiq Song
(To the tune of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” by Gilbert and Sullivan)
If you want quality in CME activities to demonstrate
Or virtual reality for surgery to simulate
Or methods for ensuring that your Med Ed content's shareable
You'll find that there are many ways to do this that are terrible
If you need messages for transferring credentials proving licensure
Or means for tracking competence in ways you've never done before
Before you write me off and say this guy is just a dumb buffoon
Keep listening – I promise that you'll have your answer very soon
If you are posting all your healthcare publications on the Internet
But find that, when you search for them on Google, crap is all you get
Don't give up hope or sing the blues
Don't hang yourself or make a fuss
You'll be a hero if you use
Our standards from MedBiquitous
Yes, we have SCORM and LOM and XML and RSS as well as MEMS
And several more ridiculously complicated acronyms
That seem to have the solitary purpose of confusing you
Or making me seem smarter than the people I am singing to
But what we really seek are fundamental changes in the quality
Of everything related to all Med Ed methodology
We do this out of altruistic duty to posterity
(Though making loads of money in the process would be fine with me)
So if I've managed to persuade you or have piqued your curiosity
Please take to time to analyze MedBiquitous more carefully
And hurry down to Baltimore
Where all this stuff is happening
Whatever Med Ed has in store
You'll find our standards just the thing
Our task is great – we cannot do
This work alone, so join with us
Or kindy make a check out to
The order of MedBiquitous
© 2006 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
15 January 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sky
(a song for Earth Day 2006)
The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sky
Gaze into her deeply - she tells you no lie
The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sea
The Earth is the Sea
All life flows out and returns faithfully
The Earth is the Sea
The Earth is the Sea
The Earth is the Sun
The Earth is the Sun
Her core warms us all and her warmth makes us one
The Earth is the Sun
The Earth is the Earth
The Earth is the Earth
Sun Sea and Sky can't replace all her worth
The Earth is the Earth
The Earth is the Earth is the Earth is the Earth is the Earth IS
(c)2006 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
Earth Day 2006
(a song for Earth Day 2006)
The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sky
Gaze into her deeply - she tells you no lie
The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sea
The Earth is the Sea
All life flows out and returns faithfully
The Earth is the Sea
The Earth is the Sea
The Earth is the Sun
The Earth is the Sun
Her core warms us all and her warmth makes us one
The Earth is the Sun
The Earth is the Earth
The Earth is the Earth
Sun Sea and Sky can't replace all her worth
The Earth is the Earth
The Earth is the Earth is the Earth is the Earth is the Earth IS
(c)2006 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
Earth Day 2006
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Thunderous News from the ONC - Brailer Resigns
Thunderous News from the ONC - Brailer Resigns
It's not like the president was assasinated or anything, but the news that just popped into my inbox hit me pretty hard. Dr. David Brailer, the first National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, announced today that he was stepping down. The news was first reported (as far as I can tell) by the Financial Times of London - British spelling of programme and co-ordinate and all.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (the ONC now, formerly ONCHIT with all the regrettable pronunciation varieties) has been underfunded and understaffed since its inception through executive order two years ago. But even in its anemic state, it proved a galvanizing force - a precise point of focus - for many of us around the country who shared Dr. Brailer's vision for an interoperable healtcare system that actually works because relevant information flows where and when it is needed.
That vision hasn't died today, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that this won't be a setback for those of us who want to make the dream a reality for the benefit of all. The lack of an articulate, politically savvy and truly brilliant shepherd of the Strategic Framework for HIT - even for just a short time - will mean that the tenuous alliances and strange bedfellowships that became a hallmark of the activities surrounding the ONC will be strained and many may break. Those who doubted or hesitated to commit will be even more wary in the next round. As hard as it has been to solve the unsolvable, it will be harder still.
There is no single person who has the power to transform healthcare. It takes more than a village. It takes all of us playing a part in a national - even global - symphony orchestra. But it sure will be hard to do it without David Brailer holding the conductor's baton.
It's not like the president was assasinated or anything, but the news that just popped into my inbox hit me pretty hard. Dr. David Brailer, the first National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, announced today that he was stepping down. The news was first reported (as far as I can tell) by the Financial Times of London - British spelling of programme and co-ordinate and all.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (the ONC now, formerly ONCHIT with all the regrettable pronunciation varieties) has been underfunded and understaffed since its inception through executive order two years ago. But even in its anemic state, it proved a galvanizing force - a precise point of focus - for many of us around the country who shared Dr. Brailer's vision for an interoperable healtcare system that actually works because relevant information flows where and when it is needed.
That vision hasn't died today, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that this won't be a setback for those of us who want to make the dream a reality for the benefit of all. The lack of an articulate, politically savvy and truly brilliant shepherd of the Strategic Framework for HIT - even for just a short time - will mean that the tenuous alliances and strange bedfellowships that became a hallmark of the activities surrounding the ONC will be strained and many may break. Those who doubted or hesitated to commit will be even more wary in the next round. As hard as it has been to solve the unsolvable, it will be harder still.
There is no single person who has the power to transform healthcare. It takes more than a village. It takes all of us playing a part in a national - even global - symphony orchestra. But it sure will be hard to do it without David Brailer holding the conductor's baton.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
You Are What You Measure - Part II
You Are What You Measure - Part II
Google provided just 540 links to the phrase, but some of the highest ranking hits provided some good fodder. Leave it to the folks from MIT to provide a thoughtful treatise on the issue from 1998. Looking for something a little less heady? The Artful Manager penned a shorter article in 2003. So while I can't claim to be a Coin Dropper (see 10/9/2003 blog), at least I've got good company from similar thinkers.
Google provided just 540 links to the phrase, but some of the highest ranking hits provided some good fodder. Leave it to the folks from MIT to provide a thoughtful treatise on the issue from 1998. Looking for something a little less heady? The Artful Manager penned a shorter article in 2003. So while I can't claim to be a Coin Dropper (see 10/9/2003 blog), at least I've got good company from similar thinkers.
You Are What You Measure
Your Are What You Measure
I keep trying to distill some common truths about the work many of us are doing on transforming healthcare through information technology. A lot of the drivers for employing HIT come down to this: You are what You Measure. If you've read Freakonomics, you know that introducing measurements into a system can significantly affect that system and you tend to get changes that optimize those measures, but those measures may not necessarily get you what you want.
Measure test scores for kids a la No Child Left Behind and you get improved test scores, but not necessarily kids who are more prepared for success in life. You can also get more teacher cheating to ensure that the test scores are better - sometimes to the detriment of the kids themselves.
We're experiencing the same thing in healthcare. Right now, we get high-cost, inefficient, and only partly effective healthcare because we measure (and pay for) activities over outcomes and outcomes over process improvement. We should be targeting measures that ensure we are constantly working toward process improvement. That's the goal! More later.
I keep trying to distill some common truths about the work many of us are doing on transforming healthcare through information technology. A lot of the drivers for employing HIT come down to this: You are what You Measure. If you've read Freakonomics, you know that introducing measurements into a system can significantly affect that system and you tend to get changes that optimize those measures, but those measures may not necessarily get you what you want.
Measure test scores for kids a la No Child Left Behind and you get improved test scores, but not necessarily kids who are more prepared for success in life. You can also get more teacher cheating to ensure that the test scores are better - sometimes to the detriment of the kids themselves.
We're experiencing the same thing in healthcare. Right now, we get high-cost, inefficient, and only partly effective healthcare because we measure (and pay for) activities over outcomes and outcomes over process improvement. We should be targeting measures that ensure we are constantly working toward process improvement. That's the goal! More later.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Fog Kills
I've been thinking about the ultimate summary of everything I believe about what's wrong with healthcare and how to make it right. The answer?
Fog Kills
Did you just say "Ah" or "Huh"? Let me explain. Newt Gingrich is fond of pointing out that "Paper Kills." He's not wrong. He just doesn't tell the entire story. Paper (in other words, the lack of electronic health records) is just a part of the problem. The root problem is the fog of information. EHRs and even my personal mantra of "all electrons all the time" is part of the solution. But even if every bit of information in healthcare were managed electronically, it could simply lead to killing people much faster if not used properly.
The most electronically enabled part of healthcare is the means by which we pay for pharmacy claims (largely through pharmacy benefit managers). But PBMs benefit from the black box of the information they house within their walls and their contracts with both healthcare payers and pharmaceutical companies. While PBMs can, in theory, lead to lower costs and higher quality (a theory I would largely challenge in terms of their net effect), the part of their business model that is predicated upon the lack of transparency has the unintended consequence of hindering our collective ability to provide optimal care to patients.
PBMs aren't the only ones to blame here. Every sector of healthcare has contributed to the creation of information silos that lead to poor outcomes. Pharma companies have long benefited from the fog of information as they (for the moment anyway) have the upper hand on the gold standard, placebo-controlled, randomized trial data for their products and can outgun other attempts to counter their arguments. This point of leverage is quickly eroding as "evidence-based medicine" takes hold and payers' influence over prescribers increases. Doctors too. The misalignment of their incentives (they make more money when they practice bad medicine because they get paid for doing tasks and not for outcomes) is a major contributor to their active and passive resistance to pay for performance schemas.
The only solution is a systems-wide acknowledgement ("Hello. My name is John and I am a Fogaholic.") and a concerted, systemic transformation of healthcare. No single sector can afford to fall on the sword of transparency without all sectors committing to the same goal.
When omni-directional information flow in the healthcare marketplace (i.e., total transparency) is achieved, all sectors of healthcare will begin aligning with optimal health outcomes because any other behavior will become readily discoverable and will be ferreted out. Money will be made - but business drivers will wholly transform.
I'm out of time, so I can't elaborate further. Bottom line: Fog kills. So let's kill fog before it kills us all.
Fog Kills
Did you just say "Ah" or "Huh"? Let me explain. Newt Gingrich is fond of pointing out that "Paper Kills." He's not wrong. He just doesn't tell the entire story. Paper (in other words, the lack of electronic health records) is just a part of the problem. The root problem is the fog of information. EHRs and even my personal mantra of "all electrons all the time" is part of the solution. But even if every bit of information in healthcare were managed electronically, it could simply lead to killing people much faster if not used properly.
The most electronically enabled part of healthcare is the means by which we pay for pharmacy claims (largely through pharmacy benefit managers). But PBMs benefit from the black box of the information they house within their walls and their contracts with both healthcare payers and pharmaceutical companies. While PBMs can, in theory, lead to lower costs and higher quality (a theory I would largely challenge in terms of their net effect), the part of their business model that is predicated upon the lack of transparency has the unintended consequence of hindering our collective ability to provide optimal care to patients.
PBMs aren't the only ones to blame here. Every sector of healthcare has contributed to the creation of information silos that lead to poor outcomes. Pharma companies have long benefited from the fog of information as they (for the moment anyway) have the upper hand on the gold standard, placebo-controlled, randomized trial data for their products and can outgun other attempts to counter their arguments. This point of leverage is quickly eroding as "evidence-based medicine" takes hold and payers' influence over prescribers increases. Doctors too. The misalignment of their incentives (they make more money when they practice bad medicine because they get paid for doing tasks and not for outcomes) is a major contributor to their active and passive resistance to pay for performance schemas.
The only solution is a systems-wide acknowledgement ("Hello. My name is John and I am a Fogaholic.") and a concerted, systemic transformation of healthcare. No single sector can afford to fall on the sword of transparency without all sectors committing to the same goal.
When omni-directional information flow in the healthcare marketplace (i.e., total transparency) is achieved, all sectors of healthcare will begin aligning with optimal health outcomes because any other behavior will become readily discoverable and will be ferreted out. Money will be made - but business drivers will wholly transform.
I'm out of time, so I can't elaborate further. Bottom line: Fog kills. So let's kill fog before it kills us all.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Allow me to introduce you to "The Legend of Bob the DERF" - Catchy title, I know. But if you know what a DERF is (psst - it's a Data Element Request Form - the thing that is used by NCPDP (The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs - an ANSI (American National Standards Institute - they create standards for SDOs (Standards Development Organizations - the groups that make standards for things like how many threads are there on a fire hydrant intake valve or how do you send an electronic prescription message)) accredited SDO based in Scottsdale, AZ) to change their standards), you'll think this song is big fun. Otherwise, if you've ever done standards development work, you'll think it's amusing. Otherwise, if you're a fan of country western music, you'll say, "It has a good beat and I can dance to it - I'll give it an 86." Otherwise, you'll probably just scratch your head.
Anyway, I wrote this song for the NCPDP's annual conference and performed it in Phoenix, AZ. It was a big hit. But then, we're an odd bunch of folks, so I'm not sure you kids'll be hearing it on American Bandstand anytime soon.
Special thanks to Lee Ann Stember, President of NCPDP, for financing the recording of this song. The lovely and talented Eric Schwartz is responsible for any production value, instrumentation and decent background vocals you may hear. Samples of his work can be found at http://www.ericschwartz.com/. CAUTION! Eric has a tendency to use his awesome creative powers for evil – or at least a sort of mischief that tends toward the perverse. Those with sensitive dispositions should refrain from visiting this site. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
One disclaimer: This song is a work of fiction. Any similarities of the characters portrayed in this recording to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin’ fer a fight. (Got that Bob and Margaret?)
Download MP3
Way back a hunert years ago
In a desert land devoid of snow’
Fore Scottsdale started dottin’ any maps
Snake Oil Salesmen roamed the West
Pitchin’ potions from their treasure chests
And shaftin’ any sucker wearin’ chaps
There was one man who had a dream’
Bout raisin’ druggists’ self esteem
By protectin’ the apothecary’s turf
He saw that standards were the key
For improvin’ drugstore quality
That man was known by all as Bob the DERF
Now any tale worth bein’ told
Includes a woman, guns or gold
Our hero’s rival ponied up all three
Margaret was her given name
But winnin’ gunfights brought her fame
So the name “The Whacker” fit her to a tee
And ev’rytime The Whacker flashed her gold incisor in a grin
The undertaker knew he’d soon be callin’ next of kin
CHORUS:
Hoo-ee ’n’ Yippee-ki-ee
Before the NCPDP
Consensus was a notion seldom found
Hoo-ah ’n’ Yippee-ki-yaw
The fastest shot laid down the law
The other laid down six feet underground
Now The Whacker had her standards too
And had in mind just what to do
To make sure things got done by her own rule
She called on Bob the DERF and said,
“You lily-livered pudd’nhead
It’s my way or the highway, ya’ dang fool!”
She knew her taunts would be enough
To razz him so he’d call her bluff
He slammed his whiskey down as if on cue
“Well we’ll just see ’bout who’ll be number one
High noon, tomorrow – bring your gun
But I’d skip town tonight if I was you!”
The bookies laid odds eight-to-five
The Whacker’d make it through alive
Her dead-eye aim was known throughout the land
It’s true that Margaret had her chance
But once they started in to dance
The DERF felt sure he’d be the last to stand
And so they set the stage to see whose standards would prevail
One slinger’d see sweet victory – and one the gates of Hell
REPEAT CHORUS
The clock struck twelve – the wind was still
Too scared to see red rivers spill
And learn who’d bite the dust who’d survive
The two stepped out into the street
To face their fate at fifty feet
Then in a flash their pistols came alive
Bob the DERF’s resolve came through
His steady hand shot straight and true
A normal foe no doubt would have been dead
But one fact he failed to calculate –The Whacker stood at four-foot-eight
And so her Stetson flew clean off her head
The DERF’s luck went from bad to worse
Didn’t even have a chance to curse
As The Whacker’s dental work gleamed through her smile
Her single shot was on the mark
It pierced his heart – the sky went dark
Right there he fell into a bloody pile
And as he died, The Whacker cried, “Oh, help me, Lord above!
All in the name of standards, I’ve just killed my one true love!”
REPEAT CHORUS
She lay her pistol down and swore upon her golden tooth
Consensus now will be pursued in healthcare’s quest for truth
“No longer will our blood be shed for standards to be setWe’ll gather round and talk until a compromise is met”
So now you know just how we formed the NCPDP
And how this modern standards settin’ process came to be
And after endless hours of meetings why my eyes will glaze
I’m dreamin’ ’bout how things got done back in those glory days when…
REPEAT CHORUS
– © 2005 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
Anyway, I wrote this song for the NCPDP's annual conference and performed it in Phoenix, AZ. It was a big hit. But then, we're an odd bunch of folks, so I'm not sure you kids'll be hearing it on American Bandstand anytime soon.
Special thanks to Lee Ann Stember, President of NCPDP, for financing the recording of this song. The lovely and talented Eric Schwartz is responsible for any production value, instrumentation and decent background vocals you may hear. Samples of his work can be found at http://www.ericschwartz.com/. CAUTION! Eric has a tendency to use his awesome creative powers for evil – or at least a sort of mischief that tends toward the perverse. Those with sensitive dispositions should refrain from visiting this site. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
One disclaimer: This song is a work of fiction. Any similarities of the characters portrayed in this recording to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin’ fer a fight. (Got that Bob and Margaret?)
Download MP3
Way back a hunert years ago
In a desert land devoid of snow’
Fore Scottsdale started dottin’ any maps
Snake Oil Salesmen roamed the West
Pitchin’ potions from their treasure chests
And shaftin’ any sucker wearin’ chaps
There was one man who had a dream’
Bout raisin’ druggists’ self esteem
By protectin’ the apothecary’s turf
He saw that standards were the key
For improvin’ drugstore quality
That man was known by all as Bob the DERF
Now any tale worth bein’ told
Includes a woman, guns or gold
Our hero’s rival ponied up all three
Margaret was her given name
But winnin’ gunfights brought her fame
So the name “The Whacker” fit her to a tee
And ev’rytime The Whacker flashed her gold incisor in a grin
The undertaker knew he’d soon be callin’ next of kin
CHORUS:
Hoo-ee ’n’ Yippee-ki-ee
Before the NCPDP
Consensus was a notion seldom found
Hoo-ah ’n’ Yippee-ki-yaw
The fastest shot laid down the law
The other laid down six feet underground
Now The Whacker had her standards too
And had in mind just what to do
To make sure things got done by her own rule
She called on Bob the DERF and said,
“You lily-livered pudd’nhead
It’s my way or the highway, ya’ dang fool!”
She knew her taunts would be enough
To razz him so he’d call her bluff
He slammed his whiskey down as if on cue
“Well we’ll just see ’bout who’ll be number one
High noon, tomorrow – bring your gun
But I’d skip town tonight if I was you!”
The bookies laid odds eight-to-five
The Whacker’d make it through alive
Her dead-eye aim was known throughout the land
It’s true that Margaret had her chance
But once they started in to dance
The DERF felt sure he’d be the last to stand
And so they set the stage to see whose standards would prevail
One slinger’d see sweet victory – and one the gates of Hell
REPEAT CHORUS
The clock struck twelve – the wind was still
Too scared to see red rivers spill
And learn who’d bite the dust who’d survive
The two stepped out into the street
To face their fate at fifty feet
Then in a flash their pistols came alive
Bob the DERF’s resolve came through
His steady hand shot straight and true
A normal foe no doubt would have been dead
But one fact he failed to calculate –The Whacker stood at four-foot-eight
And so her Stetson flew clean off her head
The DERF’s luck went from bad to worse
Didn’t even have a chance to curse
As The Whacker’s dental work gleamed through her smile
Her single shot was on the mark
It pierced his heart – the sky went dark
Right there he fell into a bloody pile
And as he died, The Whacker cried, “Oh, help me, Lord above!
All in the name of standards, I’ve just killed my one true love!”
REPEAT CHORUS
She lay her pistol down and swore upon her golden tooth
Consensus now will be pursued in healthcare’s quest for truth
“No longer will our blood be shed for standards to be setWe’ll gather round and talk until a compromise is met”
So now you know just how we formed the NCPDP
And how this modern standards settin’ process came to be
And after endless hours of meetings why my eyes will glaze
I’m dreamin’ ’bout how things got done back in those glory days when…
REPEAT CHORUS
– © 2005 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
Monday, March 21, 2005
This weekend, I won a no-limit Texas Hold'em tournament in my new neighborhood against 17 other gents having never played before. All I did was learn the basic rules, play a few hands online to learn the mechanics, and read some articles at www.learn-texas-holdem.com. The sections on understanding the psychology of the no limit games proved to be so on target that I walked home with a trophy and a wad of cash. I doubt I'll be able to repeat the feat and don't plan on quitting my day job to join the World Poker Tour, but it was sure interesting understanding what makes people tick in a particular situation. See the pics at www.leaguelineup.com/chipsandclubs. I'm sure there are some business lessons to glean from the experience - mostly about working hard to understand the personalities in one's work environment and using those insights in "Getting to Yes". But there are a lot fewer variables in a poker game than in life, so the analogies are bound to break down early.
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Live Poet's Anxiety
Bob Edwards told us on NPR's Morning Edition today that a report published in the Journal of Death Studies says that poets die younger than novelists, playwrights and other writers. Click here for the story. The study's author, James Kaufman, speculates that the cause may be the poet's tendancy to be more tortured and therefore prone to self destruction. Au Contraire!
Live Poet’s Anxiety
Pray tell, if you will, for my mind cannot know it –
What leads to the early demise of the poet?
Enlighten my heavy heart, shackled in strife
Why penning pentameter shortens one’s life
The novelist, dolling out drivel in droves
Lives longer – thus happier, one must suppose
The dire statistics give proof to no reason
For sentencing bards to a much-shortened season
Too easy a knee-jerk to point to depression
The answer may be closer kin to recession
For poets may toil for days on one verse
While Harlequins fly off the shelves – How perverse!
Sadness may serve as the Grim Reaper’s alibi
Truth, though, is found in the cold math of ROI
Poets find life far too costly to cherish
Thus proving the old adage – Publish or Perish!
In terse prose: Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy Zoloft…
Live Poet’s Anxiety
Pray tell, if you will, for my mind cannot know it –
What leads to the early demise of the poet?
Enlighten my heavy heart, shackled in strife
Why penning pentameter shortens one’s life
The novelist, dolling out drivel in droves
Lives longer – thus happier, one must suppose
The dire statistics give proof to no reason
For sentencing bards to a much-shortened season
Too easy a knee-jerk to point to depression
The answer may be closer kin to recession
For poets may toil for days on one verse
While Harlequins fly off the shelves – How perverse!
Sadness may serve as the Grim Reaper’s alibi
Truth, though, is found in the cold math of ROI
Poets find life far too costly to cherish
Thus proving the old adage – Publish or Perish!
In terse prose: Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy Zoloft…
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
For the “You Heard it Here First” file: I have been working on electronic prescribing (eRx) standards for some time, but the recent signing into law of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (DIMA) has put these efforts into overdrive. It’s amazing to see how fast this is all moving now. Trouble is, no one talks about the fundamental problem with Medicare – the third rail that guarantees political suicide for anyone who whispers of it in Washington. Here goes:
The more successful we are in improving the quality of healthcare for seniors – even as we improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the delivery of that care – the more Medicare will cost.
Huh? Reducing costs will cost more? Yup. Ultimately, our quality efforts will be rewarded in the form of longer lives for seniors. These seniors will still need medical care as they live longer than they otherwise would have and who no longer pay the taxes that support the increasing costs incurred because we are doing the best possible job at caring for our elders. No matter how long you live, you always live the last six months of life where a huge portion of our lifetime healthcare costs are incurred. Truth is an inefficient, lousy healthcare system that encourages bad personal health behaviors is the only way we can afford Medicare in its current manifestation. Proof? I think it was Poland who did a study about smoking in their country. They concluded that smoking was good for the economy because citizens dutifully sickened and died at a cost-efficient age shortly after retirement.
Yes, it’s depressing but true. The problem is compounded by the fact that there is very little personal incentive for seniors to do anything but try and utilize the maximum possible healthcare resources for their own benefit. That’s certainly understandable – it’s human nature to take what is offered; people shouldn’t be expected to behave differently. The trick is to align incentives a la A Beautiful Mind-style game theory modeling.
So how do we fix Medicare? The answer can be found in an illustration from The Little Prince. Remember the picture about the snake who swallowed the elephant? Long snake with a big lump in the middle where the elephant is being slowly digested. Looks sort of like a hat. Remember yet? You can see a picture at http://theliterarylink.com/prince1.html
That’s pretty much the shape of the New Improved Medicare (NIM) I’m suggesting.
Here’s how it would work. Benefits in NIM begin at birth but are restricted to preventive services that focus on treatments that focus on long-term outcomes – vaccinations, screening, health monitoring, nutritional counseling, antihypertensives, lipid management drugs, basic physicals at 10-year intervals, etc. This is the front end of the snake. Private or publicly supported insurance for low income people would cover everything else pretty much as we do today. At 60 (not 65 like Plain Old Medicare – POL), the elephant part kicks in and seniors get the option to start a 27-year full-on benefit that covers everything – bypass, knee replacements, expensive chemotherapy – whatever is needed to address a person’s health issues. The benefit lasts for 27 years because 87 is about the average life expectancy for people in the US and 60+27=87 (but you had probably already figured that out already – sorry about that).
If the senior is healthy, though, he or she can opt to keep using the head-of-the-snake portion of the benefit and delay the 27-year benefit for as long as desired – typically until an expensive healthcare issue comes up. Then the elephant starts and lasts 27 years. After that, the tail kicks in. The tail is TLC – tender loving care that covers anything that a senior would need for good supportive or palliative care – pain management, nursing care, etc., but not “heroic efforts” or high-cost services. The senior could always pay for additional medical services using NIM-negotiated rates, but the elephant – the stuff that we all pay into and pay on behalf of the people ahead of us – is no longer covered by NIM.
One more thing – if the average benefit for the elephant portion is, say $7,000 per year for every senior (the current estimates for DIMA), then the typical 27-year spend per senior would be $189,000. If a senior gets through the elephant without spending, say, 80% of that total or $151,200, he or she gets to extend the elephant until reaching that 80% mark.
So let’s say we pass a law today that launches NIM in 15 years – 45 year olds can start thinking now about how they want to play the NIM game. Want to live to be 100? Start living healthy now and hold off on the elephant for as long as possible. Wouldn’t it be great to not even tap into the elephant until you’re 85? Think of how great that would be. You could stay on private insurance, which would be cheap because there’s no catastrophic coverage; that’s taken care of by the elephant and can be switched on at any time. If you’re worried about the tail or want to have long-term, major benefits, you can open a Medical Savings Account or purchase a supplemental insurance package early on – insurers would be able to work out the actuarial risks of this sort of plan pretty easily.
Seems simple enough, no? Let me know what you think at ross@rossmartinmd.com.
Just remember, you heard it here first…
The more successful we are in improving the quality of healthcare for seniors – even as we improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the delivery of that care – the more Medicare will cost.
Huh? Reducing costs will cost more? Yup. Ultimately, our quality efforts will be rewarded in the form of longer lives for seniors. These seniors will still need medical care as they live longer than they otherwise would have and who no longer pay the taxes that support the increasing costs incurred because we are doing the best possible job at caring for our elders. No matter how long you live, you always live the last six months of life where a huge portion of our lifetime healthcare costs are incurred. Truth is an inefficient, lousy healthcare system that encourages bad personal health behaviors is the only way we can afford Medicare in its current manifestation. Proof? I think it was Poland who did a study about smoking in their country. They concluded that smoking was good for the economy because citizens dutifully sickened and died at a cost-efficient age shortly after retirement.
Yes, it’s depressing but true. The problem is compounded by the fact that there is very little personal incentive for seniors to do anything but try and utilize the maximum possible healthcare resources for their own benefit. That’s certainly understandable – it’s human nature to take what is offered; people shouldn’t be expected to behave differently. The trick is to align incentives a la A Beautiful Mind-style game theory modeling.
So how do we fix Medicare? The answer can be found in an illustration from The Little Prince. Remember the picture about the snake who swallowed the elephant? Long snake with a big lump in the middle where the elephant is being slowly digested. Looks sort of like a hat. Remember yet? You can see a picture at http://theliterarylink.com/prince1.html
That’s pretty much the shape of the New Improved Medicare (NIM) I’m suggesting.
Here’s how it would work. Benefits in NIM begin at birth but are restricted to preventive services that focus on treatments that focus on long-term outcomes – vaccinations, screening, health monitoring, nutritional counseling, antihypertensives, lipid management drugs, basic physicals at 10-year intervals, etc. This is the front end of the snake. Private or publicly supported insurance for low income people would cover everything else pretty much as we do today. At 60 (not 65 like Plain Old Medicare – POL), the elephant part kicks in and seniors get the option to start a 27-year full-on benefit that covers everything – bypass, knee replacements, expensive chemotherapy – whatever is needed to address a person’s health issues. The benefit lasts for 27 years because 87 is about the average life expectancy for people in the US and 60+27=87 (but you had probably already figured that out already – sorry about that).
If the senior is healthy, though, he or she can opt to keep using the head-of-the-snake portion of the benefit and delay the 27-year benefit for as long as desired – typically until an expensive healthcare issue comes up. Then the elephant starts and lasts 27 years. After that, the tail kicks in. The tail is TLC – tender loving care that covers anything that a senior would need for good supportive or palliative care – pain management, nursing care, etc., but not “heroic efforts” or high-cost services. The senior could always pay for additional medical services using NIM-negotiated rates, but the elephant – the stuff that we all pay into and pay on behalf of the people ahead of us – is no longer covered by NIM.
One more thing – if the average benefit for the elephant portion is, say $7,000 per year for every senior (the current estimates for DIMA), then the typical 27-year spend per senior would be $189,000. If a senior gets through the elephant without spending, say, 80% of that total or $151,200, he or she gets to extend the elephant until reaching that 80% mark.
So let’s say we pass a law today that launches NIM in 15 years – 45 year olds can start thinking now about how they want to play the NIM game. Want to live to be 100? Start living healthy now and hold off on the elephant for as long as possible. Wouldn’t it be great to not even tap into the elephant until you’re 85? Think of how great that would be. You could stay on private insurance, which would be cheap because there’s no catastrophic coverage; that’s taken care of by the elephant and can be switched on at any time. If you’re worried about the tail or want to have long-term, major benefits, you can open a Medical Savings Account or purchase a supplemental insurance package early on – insurers would be able to work out the actuarial risks of this sort of plan pretty easily.
Seems simple enough, no? Let me know what you think at ross@rossmartinmd.com.
Just remember, you heard it here first…
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Here's a thought: Let's say you want to be known as the person who coined the phrase [put your original thought here]. How do you establish ownership of an original turn of phrase the way "telecosm" has been attributed to George Guilder or the dreaded "paradigm shift" to Thomas Kuhn? Would publishing to a Blog be sufficient? It beats paying the Writer's Guild of America ten bucks to register something - only to have it last for 10 years before they pitch it. But Blogs are editable. Can the publish dates be altered? Is there a place to archive original thoughts that establish proof of ownership?
Here's one for you: What should we call the Guilders and Kuhns of the world? "Coin Droppers".
And another, based on a prediction I have about where digital imaging advances will take our society. There is already a widespread belief - especially in Germany - that the WTC attack of 9/11 was all fakery. I predict that in the next 10-15 years we will see a rash of such cynicism in the world as our ability to digitally create or alter reality becomes so indistinguishable from that reality that there will be a growing sense among otherwise rational people that much of what they experience or are told is fact is just a mirage. The Matrix is real; history is false; that sort of thing. What do you call this phenomenon? Digicism. Remember, you read it here first. Unless none of this is real... hmm...
Here's one for you: What should we call the Guilders and Kuhns of the world? "Coin Droppers".
And another, based on a prediction I have about where digital imaging advances will take our society. There is already a widespread belief - especially in Germany - that the WTC attack of 9/11 was all fakery. I predict that in the next 10-15 years we will see a rash of such cynicism in the world as our ability to digitally create or alter reality becomes so indistinguishable from that reality that there will be a growing sense among otherwise rational people that much of what they experience or are told is fact is just a mirage. The Matrix is real; history is false; that sort of thing. What do you call this phenomenon? Digicism. Remember, you read it here first. Unless none of this is real... hmm...
Lots of silence since my last blog. Blame it on my last one - the Baby Rap. Taylor came in at 10 lbs. 2 oz. and has been growing ever since. Daddy took a real job at Pfizer to deal with needing things like health insurance and formula. Can it be that more than 2 1/2 years have passed? I guess I can sum it all up with this song I wrote a few weeks ago...
Cool Daddy
Since my early days I have tried to find ways to fit in with the happening crew
But whatever my plot, cool I was not – didn’t matter what I’d do
I was always on the outside – every day just another blow to my pride
And to tell the truth I was a total goof – it’s true… Boohoo!
Fast forward to now and I’ll tell you how this Big Daddy came to rule
I was handed a son but was nearly undone by Sippy Cups, diapers and drool
But as my boy began to grow in time I came to know
To my surprise in my son’s eyes I’m COOL!
Because I can blow bubbles and I can juggle three balls
I can fix him a snack – let him ride on my back
I even let him scribble on the bathtub walls
I can laugh like Tigger (Hoo hoo hoo hoo!) – make a splash in the pool
To the rest of the crowd I ain’t too proud to admit I play the fool
But too my son I’m the King of Fun ’cause I’m a Daddy kind of cool!
Now every day in most every way we stick together like glue
And after his nap he’ll get up on my lap when it’s time to watch The Book of Pooh
He thinks that I’m a rock star when he sees me strumming on my guitar
And I’m a happening cat when I Jungle Book scat like King Louie and Baloo…
(or, when he’s old enough to sing along: And we’re happening cats when we Jungle Book scat…)
Hey! Da-zop bah no-dey! Hot ta-dee gla-na-da dot don nohn! Hen-a-ba-ba-det doot zah-bah doo-bo day ga-bom, pa-do be-day, za-bohn, za-bop bop bah-bey! Hab a doo dee! With a reep bon nah-zah! Heb-a doh bah-doy! With a lah bah zee-nee! Whad’ll-a-dup! Vhood’ll-a-bup! Zeed’ll dop! Zoo-dee! Oooo! Ooooh! Eeeee! Eeeee! Eeeee…
…And so you see-he-he – He wants to be like me-he-he
And though it’s clear to everyone here I’m really quite the fool
So what I can’t recall a single Beatles song
I can name every Wiggle and sing along
At least for a while he’s hip to my style
I’m as hep as they get with the tricycle set
I said to my son I’m A-Number-One
’Cause I’m a Daddy kind of cool
I’m a Daddy kind of cool!
© 2003 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
9/13/03
Cool Daddy
Since my early days I have tried to find ways to fit in with the happening crew
But whatever my plot, cool I was not – didn’t matter what I’d do
I was always on the outside – every day just another blow to my pride
And to tell the truth I was a total goof – it’s true… Boohoo!
Fast forward to now and I’ll tell you how this Big Daddy came to rule
I was handed a son but was nearly undone by Sippy Cups, diapers and drool
But as my boy began to grow in time I came to know
To my surprise in my son’s eyes I’m COOL!
Because I can blow bubbles and I can juggle three balls
I can fix him a snack – let him ride on my back
I even let him scribble on the bathtub walls
I can laugh like Tigger (Hoo hoo hoo hoo!) – make a splash in the pool
To the rest of the crowd I ain’t too proud to admit I play the fool
But too my son I’m the King of Fun ’cause I’m a Daddy kind of cool!
Now every day in most every way we stick together like glue
And after his nap he’ll get up on my lap when it’s time to watch The Book of Pooh
He thinks that I’m a rock star when he sees me strumming on my guitar
And I’m a happening cat when I Jungle Book scat like King Louie and Baloo…
(or, when he’s old enough to sing along: And we’re happening cats when we Jungle Book scat…)
Hey! Da-zop bah no-dey! Hot ta-dee gla-na-da dot don nohn! Hen-a-ba-ba-det doot zah-bah doo-bo day ga-bom, pa-do be-day, za-bohn, za-bop bop bah-bey! Hab a doo dee! With a reep bon nah-zah! Heb-a doh bah-doy! With a lah bah zee-nee! Whad’ll-a-dup! Vhood’ll-a-bup! Zeed’ll dop! Zoo-dee! Oooo! Ooooh! Eeeee! Eeeee! Eeeee…
…And so you see-he-he – He wants to be like me-he-he
And though it’s clear to everyone here I’m really quite the fool
So what I can’t recall a single Beatles song
I can name every Wiggle and sing along
At least for a while he’s hip to my style
I’m as hep as they get with the tricycle set
I said to my son I’m A-Number-One
’Cause I’m a Daddy kind of cool
I’m a Daddy kind of cool!
© 2003 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
9/13/03
Saturday, March 17, 2001
Wrote this yesterday...
Took a little trip to see the doctor today
Found out on an ultrasound what Taylor would weigh
Seems the little guy comes in at NINE POUNDS PLUS!
The doctor shook her head and said "It's baby or bust"
We're headin' to the hospital to get a little potion
When applied a certain way evokes some cervical motion
And then the next morning, we'll try for a day
To see if we can birth him in the usual way
If that's a no-go, then we've got a plan B
He'll make his escape through a little surgery
Assuming that tomorrow is the day his life is startin'
Irish eyes will shine on Mr. Taylor Jay O'Martin
Now we're heading to the hospital. Life will never be the same...
Took a little trip to see the doctor today
Found out on an ultrasound what Taylor would weigh
Seems the little guy comes in at NINE POUNDS PLUS!
The doctor shook her head and said "It's baby or bust"
We're headin' to the hospital to get a little potion
When applied a certain way evokes some cervical motion
And then the next morning, we'll try for a day
To see if we can birth him in the usual way
If that's a no-go, then we've got a plan B
He'll make his escape through a little surgery
Assuming that tomorrow is the day his life is startin'
Irish eyes will shine on Mr. Taylor Jay O'Martin
Now we're heading to the hospital. Life will never be the same...
Tuesday, December 26, 2000
In keeping with what is now a two-year Christmas tradition, I wrote Kym a poem, a la Dr. Seuss, that is an extension of one of Kym’s favorites, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Pretty much sums up the year we've had...
Oh, the year we have had! with its jostles and bumps
We’ve been high on the Rooftops! And down in the Dumps
Just when we thought that our future was clear
We’d turn ‘round a corner and Change would appear
With his old pal Uncertainty one step behind
All the This-Way-Then-That-Ways became quite a Grind!
Just writing a poem about this year’s events
Creates quite a story that’s rather intense!
We started the year with the Best New Year’s Yet
I popped the question and you said, “You Bet!”
We partied all night at a Y2K ball
And, according to F.J., your gown beat them all!
We moved you to Boston to start a new life
And prepare for the day we’d be Husband and Wife
But our hopes for the future were dashed when we learned
That your Hodgkin’s, so long in remission, returned
For two weeks we viewed your prognosis with terror
When finally we found that the test was in error!
A lesson emerged from that troubling event
Each day must be lived to its fullest extent
We made a decision on that very day
That we should get hitched without further delay!
A few short months later we flew to Hawai’i
And, witnessed by loved ones, were wed on Kaua’i
But wait! That’s not all that occurred on that day!
For that very same night we conceived Taylor Jay!
Talk about Changes! These DINKs ‘til their day’s end
Were suddenly thinking of Pampers and Playpens!
And Sippy-Cups! Strollers! Au Pairs and Papooses!
Barneys and Pokémons! Potters and Seusses!
Our image of just you and me quickly faded
We “Saabed” on that fateful day Cloe got traded
But no doubt, this all will be worth all the Fuss
The day we see Taylor’s eyes looking at us
There’s just not the room to depict all our plans
Of Start-Ups that didn’t and Möbius Bands
Of Legal Frustrations and Selling Sensations!
Of New Jobs and Old Saabs and Small Tribulations
And next year – Look Out! We’re just getting started!
We may move from Boston to places uncharted
But one thing remains – be there Change or whatever
My love for you grows every day we’re together
And one other thing remains Certain, my wife –
I still cherish the night you danced into my life
And last year’s poem…
Oh, the places We’ll go! With hopes flying high
We’ll soar through the air! Our limit, the sky!
Except when you fall and Deep Troubles brew
But when life is its darkest I’ll be there for you
And wouldn’t you know it? The opposite’s true!
When I’m in the Pickle you’ll bail me out too!
For life is just Grand! Despite the Rough Parts
And life’s even better when shared as Sweethearts
So here’s to the Journey! And our yet-revealed Fate
I’m honored to walk the unknown as your Mate
And as we go forward as Husband and Wife
I’ll cherish the night you danced into my life
Oh, the year we have had! with its jostles and bumps
We’ve been high on the Rooftops! And down in the Dumps
Just when we thought that our future was clear
We’d turn ‘round a corner and Change would appear
With his old pal Uncertainty one step behind
All the This-Way-Then-That-Ways became quite a Grind!
Just writing a poem about this year’s events
Creates quite a story that’s rather intense!
We started the year with the Best New Year’s Yet
I popped the question and you said, “You Bet!”
We partied all night at a Y2K ball
And, according to F.J., your gown beat them all!
We moved you to Boston to start a new life
And prepare for the day we’d be Husband and Wife
But our hopes for the future were dashed when we learned
That your Hodgkin’s, so long in remission, returned
For two weeks we viewed your prognosis with terror
When finally we found that the test was in error!
A lesson emerged from that troubling event
Each day must be lived to its fullest extent
We made a decision on that very day
That we should get hitched without further delay!
A few short months later we flew to Hawai’i
And, witnessed by loved ones, were wed on Kaua’i
But wait! That’s not all that occurred on that day!
For that very same night we conceived Taylor Jay!
Talk about Changes! These DINKs ‘til their day’s end
Were suddenly thinking of Pampers and Playpens!
And Sippy-Cups! Strollers! Au Pairs and Papooses!
Barneys and Pokémons! Potters and Seusses!
Our image of just you and me quickly faded
We “Saabed” on that fateful day Cloe got traded
But no doubt, this all will be worth all the Fuss
The day we see Taylor’s eyes looking at us
There’s just not the room to depict all our plans
Of Start-Ups that didn’t and Möbius Bands
Of Legal Frustrations and Selling Sensations!
Of New Jobs and Old Saabs and Small Tribulations
And next year – Look Out! We’re just getting started!
We may move from Boston to places uncharted
But one thing remains – be there Change or whatever
My love for you grows every day we’re together
And one other thing remains Certain, my wife –
I still cherish the night you danced into my life
And last year’s poem…
Oh, the places We’ll go! With hopes flying high
We’ll soar through the air! Our limit, the sky!
Except when you fall and Deep Troubles brew
But when life is its darkest I’ll be there for you
And wouldn’t you know it? The opposite’s true!
When I’m in the Pickle you’ll bail me out too!
For life is just Grand! Despite the Rough Parts
And life’s even better when shared as Sweethearts
So here’s to the Journey! And our yet-revealed Fate
I’m honored to walk the unknown as your Mate
And as we go forward as Husband and Wife
I’ll cherish the night you danced into my life
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