Distracted

After the many bureaucratic changes that followed the passing of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and other legislation, patient care has become secondary to satisfying the whims of government and giant insurance company administrators, who are in total control. The result is a web of complicated rules and misguided programs whose chief effect has been to distract doctors and nurses from their proper focus on patient care. Access to health care now depends on the ability of patients, doctors, and nurses to navigate in and around this cumbersome and ever-changing system.

Written by a practicing doctor and based on years of real-life experience, Distracted takes the unique view that it is not the American health care system that is broken—the problem lies in the administration of health care. The solution is simplicity where there is complexity. The solution is an elegant use of health information technology to foster improved care. It is putting control of health care decisions back with those who know best, patients and their health care teams.

The solution is caring for patients with fewer distractions.

Matthew Hahn, MD, is a practicing family physician in Hancock, Maryland. His passions are the delivery of excellent care and motivating patients to be healthy. He was voted a Maryland Family Doctor of the Year. He is married and has one daughter, and his hobbies include running a lot but slowly. He lives in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.