I had the opportunity this week to attend the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Gallatin support group to tell them about change:healthcare (of course I couldn’t get the projector to work, which made sharing the application a bit difficult, however it all worked out). As I began to tell them what our company is about, what our application could do for them, and the ways in which we have been working with the NMSS Mid-South Chapter to get the application out to some clients for free, I sensed they were kind of surprised. They don’t really have anything other than a spread sheet to help them get their healthcare cost under control, they do not know where the least expensive pharmacy is (even though they often have hundreds of dollars in prescriptions every month), and some have even called around looking for the least expensive place to get a MRI.

The whole experience was fantastic. It helped me get a better grasp of what individuals who face the healthcare system, more often that most, are looking for in terms of support. At the end of the meeting everyone even took a change:healthcare bumper sticker (which made me proud). I sensed that all of them would be happy to help change healthcare.

However at the end of the day not much has changed. The not for profit arena is still going to focus on fundraising (rightfully so) and their clients are still going to get excited about how they can help. I will tell you everyone at this meeting was excited about the MS walk on April 5th. Yet, events like this bring individuals together and really do provide great fundraising potential. However when these great events are over, I wish some “help oriented institutions” would continue to keep their eyes open to new and different support mechanisms.

I want to thank the Gallatin support group for listening so attentively and genuinely being interested in how change:healthcare may help them, even if it is in the smallest way. I will remain optimisitic that change is coming eventually.