On Wednesday July 18, AAPS physicians again took an important message to Capitol Hill. To put patients in charge, it's not just ObamaCare that needs to go but also decades of failed Washington policies that damage the patient-physician relationship.

The briefing featured Rep. Paul Broun, MD who has introduced the OPTION Act (Offering Patients True Individualized Options Now). This bill, H.R. 4224, does not try to impose more top-down controls. It rejects them and empowers patients by stripping Washington of its stranglehold on medicine.

Also featured were two physicians who are proving that market-driven solutions decrease costs while increasing access to high-quality patient-centered medical care. AAPS President-elect Juliette Madrigal-Dersch, MD runs a third-party free pediatric and internal medicine clinic in Texas and Keith Smith, MD is the founder of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma.

Watch Video of Briefing Below:

Thanks to your help in contacting Congressional offices, the briefing took place before a standing-room only audience comprised of the legislative advisers shaping national healthcare policy, representatives from the media – such as Investors Business Daily, and Members of Congress themselves.

In addition to this lunchtime briefing, the doctors spent the morning, afternoon, and evening of the 18th educating Congressmen and their staff about the importance of reining in out-of-control federal and government-facilitated insurance company interference so real, proven free market solutions can flourish.

After watching the video, take a few short minutes to call your Representative (contact info at http://www.contactingthecongress.org/) and encourage him to support Dr. Broun's OPTION Act, H.R. 4224.

Dr. Smith and Dr. Madrigal-Dersch will be among the presenters at the AAPS 69th Annual Meeting this coming October 4-6 in San Diego. You don't want to miss this important event! Learn more at http://AAPSonline.org/2012am.

A Healthy Patient-Physician Relationship Requires Options

Briefing: Featuring Congressman Broun

Where: Cannon House Office Building, Room 402
When: 12:00 Noon, Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Lunch: Chik-Fil-A Lunch

Most people understand the basic points that not all patients are the same and not everyone reacts to the same treatment the same way. Yet many don't fully understand how truly unique each and every patient is that walks into a doctor's office and how critical it is for individuality to determine the treatment. Past policies as well as the current trends in politics—coming from both parties—reflect this misunderstanding. Congress has, in effect, inserted the government into the exam room alongside the patient and physician to enforce one-size-fits-all “solutions.” This degradation of the patient-physician relationship leads to undesirable consequences: poorer health outcomes, increased costs, and less availability of care.

There are good ideas. Doctor Broun's OPTION Act doesn't downplay individuality for questionable cost savings; his bill raises individuality to new levels by providing increased flexibility to those very individuals. The OPTION Act frees the patients and the physicians to provide even higher quality care, increased access to care, at lower prices. And this isn’t just theoretical. Innovative medical practices are already implementing and proving these ideas work for patients from all walks of life and levels of health.

AAPS supports bills that give patients and physicians more freedom and the OPTION Act is the one that above other proposals fosters patient-centered solutions developed by the people that know patients' needs best – their doctors.

Speaking:

	Congressman Paul Broun, MD. For most of his career, Dr. Broun has practiced general medicine and, in 2002, he went out on his own, establishing a unique practice of full-time house calls. Dr. Broun enjoys the freedom of practicing medicine without bureaucratic encumbrances and has used his experience to introduce commonsense solutions to our nation’s health care financing crisis.
	Dr. G. Keith Smith is a board certified anesthesiologist in private practice. In 1997, he co-founded The Surgery Center of Oklahoma. The center's website displays all-inclusive pricing for surgical procedures, a move that has gained national and even international attention. Many Canadians and uninsured Americans have been treated at his facility, taking advantage of the low and transparent pricing available.
	*Dr. Juliette Madrigal* is a graduate of Texas A&M Medical School, and was Chief Resident at OU School of Medicine. She started her own traditional medical practice in 1992 in Marble Falls, Texas. She makes house calls and gives discounts to teachers and preachers and sees patients who have cancer for free. She is currently the Burnet County Health Authority and President-Elect of the AAPS.