It all began at a hospital coffee shop in a commuter town outside of New York City. A leading orthopedic surgeon asked what iMedExchange could do to help him cut through all the noise around the brewing health care policy debate.
Then, a few months later, a neurosurgeon proposed launching a community on iMedExchange for a discussion of how politics and economics intersect in confusing (and sometimes questionable) ways in health care.
And then, as the clamor for reform has been growing in Washington, we've seen communities of doctors using iMedExchange as a connective hub to link them to their members, communicate messages, organize, educate and advocate.
VitalSigns is iMedExchange's offer to help.
Our goal is to provide physicians with a unique, concise source of information on health reform and policy that has been specially selected to be both interesting and actionable. VitalSigns will be successful if we allow physicians to cut through the clutter.
VitalSigns features physician voices as often as possible - from rural family docs to U.S. senators - as we believe that physicians know best what is of value to their colleagues. Physicians created and oversee VitalSigns - and through our relationship with iMedExchange's physician community, we provide a unique window into what physicians are saying about the future of the health care system.
In addition to the VitalSigns blog, iMedExchange has launched the VitalSigns Resource Center for its physician members. The Resource Center provides iMedExchange's members with the tools to learn more, get involved in advocacy (wherever they come down on the issue), and most importantly catalyze and engage their colleagues.
If you are a physician, we urge you to join in the vigorous discussion taking place inside iMedExchange and around the VitalSigns Resource Center - you can login or join by clicking here. We also invite you to regularly contribute articles and blog posts - and add your two cents to those posted by others.
For everyone else, we hope VitalSigns provides a unique perspective on the health care reform debate and a destination to hear loud and clear from some of the most important voices in the conversation: physicians.
-Rob Coppedge, Editor, VitalSigns
