The open letter campaign on Sermo is building exponential momentum and has entered its second phase. I have written about this campaign previously on this blog. Today, I sent the following message, with a link to the posting about the campaign, to a group of physicians on Sermo:

Dear Colleague:

I would like bring your attention to a very important campaign currently underway on Sermo. The Sermo physician community is working on drafting an “open letter to the people of the United States” reflecting our concerns and frustrations about the current trends in healthcare. Our goal is to get thousands of signatures on this letter and distribute it widely via the internet, national newspapers, and downloadable educational tools to be handed out to patients. Sermo has pledged significant support to facilitate the process.

We are now drafting the key messages of the letter in the posting I’m sending you. On 2/22, we will start writing the letter. Sermo members are participating in the entire process and so far we have been able to make lot of progress.

This is a unique opportunity for us to tell our side of the story to the public. We have been silent for too long and it’s time to speak out. This is a grassroots effort that can serve as a nidus for unity among physicians and pave the way for our direct involvement in a new wave of healthcare reform. Please take the time to check out the posting and start contributing by sharing your ideas with the physician community on Sermo. You may also want to reach out to your colleagues to join Sermo so they can participate in this important campaign.

The response to the above message has been very strong and empowering. Sermo has over 50,000 licensed physicians as members, all of whom can directly participate in writing the letter. It appears that physicians are now ready more than ever to challenge the status quo, which has been behaving somewhat maliciously towards patients and physicians for a very long time.

Regardless of the outcome of the open letter campaign, it is clear that those who have been diverting the patients’ dollars into profits, and away from physicians to deliver appropriate care, can no longer continue their pursuits with the same level of comfort to which they are accustomed.

Filed under: Health Policy, Open Letter Campaign