There’s a lot to be learned by reading Brian Klepper and David Kibbe’s June 10 post on The Health Care Blog, The Health Industry’s Achilles Heel.

After you absorb the intense information in that post, about how sick and dysfunctional and underperforming the system is, then read the comments. I didn’t see a single one of them discussing that the system is failing us.

I have a good friend who thinks deeply about why things are the way they are. Years ago, talking about a situation far from healthcare but very similar, he said “Dave, this is what you get when you have an aristocracy: people who are living off other people’s money, and who are in a system that’s so bloated that they don’t have to generate any real value. They end up fighting with each other, ignoring the people who created their wealth, even if those people are starving. It always collapses.”

And yet we’re left with the reality that Brian mentioned: we the people are simply not at the center of the discussion. We’re mentioned as detached victims: the faceless 48 million with no coverage, etc etc.

Much to think about here. Grousing gets us nowhere. Except sometimes it can raise awareness. But IMO there needs to be constructive suggestion, *creating* something. That’s part of why I like the Declaration: it creates a new platform from which to view things, and to see old things from a new perspective.

I have another note to write tonight after some more thinking about a private note I received overnight. But for now, it’s off to the marketing data day job.

I do think that the Consumer Partnership for eHealth (CPeH) has become an important and influential voice for the interests of patients and families (although I admit that “regular patients” are not part of the daily work of the coalition). CPeH is a coalition of many consumer advocacy organizations and non-profit organizations focused on the consumer-facing side of health information technology — and, really, for better, more efficient health care more generally.

If you’re interested in finding out more, start with the June 16 post at http://www.IxCenterBlog.org.