TEDster Allison Hunt‘s five-minute talk finds humor and marketing strategy in the most unlikely of places — her own hip-replacement surgery. As the world scrutinizes broken health-care systems, this particularly timely clip shows how getting to the front of a two-year waiting list can have an altruistic effect. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 5:00.)
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Allison’s video was definitely cute and had a nice hook at the ending, but it leaves an erroneous impression of the Canadian Health Care system. Granted, I live in Southern Ontario which has a higher density (I suppose) of hospitals, but the longest quoted wait time for a hip replacement we experienced was 6 months. In the end we got a specialist appointment in 2 weeks, and a hip replacement 6 weeks after that.
My experience with this hip replacement and two cancer (prostate and pancreatic) episodes is that our health system is truly excellent and waiting times very acceptable. I think the trick is ‘shopping it out’. You should take charge of your own health anyway, and picking the right surgeon and hospital are part of that. Too often people go to the specialist referenced by their GP. But if you call around (or have your GP do it for you) you can find the right care with the right waiting time.
I am glad Allison found a way to get to the front of the line and the hospital benefits from her efforts. I just encourage others not to be discouraged by long waiting times. Take charge. Look around.
Well… the odd thing here is… why believe her? Every one of her actions were all, on a most basic level, self serving. When she goes to the front of the line… everyone else waits longer. Hundreds of people suffered pain and disabiltiy longer because of her. She should be ashamed.
And of course she is… and claims that she will volunteer her time… but again… that is only to quell her shame and guilt and in that respect is self serving yet again.
If she wants to impress… she should do something for someone that she does not “owe”. All she is doing now is paying a karmic debt. And for all anyone knows… she actually never went through with it.
The fact that she had a need, and found a way, to go around the Canadian health system, shows just how broken it is. What good there is to be found in it, is inertia left over from earlier times… the decay is inevitable. Canada so needs the system to appear to work, that the failures, and the people affected by them, are swept under the rug, and the population turns a blind eye. Meanwhile, Canadians are trapped in the US, waiting for necessary care facilities to become available so they can return home, or are selling their homes to get the treatment they need in the US.
The people that need it the most, are the ones that are failed the most.
Allison’s story seemed to highlight that. Good thing she is attractive. Were she uglier, she might not have even been able to work the system as much as she did.
Hi gentlemen. I’m glad I stumbled across your comments because I feel I have to defend myself.
First, I am absolutely still volunteering at the hospital. Every Friday for the past 20 months, and sometimes I pick up extra shifts for colleagues who can’t come in. And I don’t intend to retire any time soon.
Bob…I absolutely shopped around for my hip. At the young age of 41 (young in this situation, middle-aged otherwise) I know that I will need my “replaced hip” replaced again. The thought of that is terrifying to me. It made it all the more important that I have the best first installation possible. My GP put me on the wait list for the best surgeon in the province, in her opinion.
What people forget is that medicine is not “first come, first served” (nor should it be). Doctors triage their patients and they decide who gets on their schedule and when. My surgeon is a total pro. He moved me up because he knew I was really suffering and that I would soon not be able to work. He wanted for me to remain a productive member of society. (I’m in the 54% tax bracket. And despite this situation, I don’t want tax cuts; I just want better tax value.)
What doesn’t come across in the video, but was very evident if you saw me speak live at TED, was that most of this was delivered tongue in cheek. The good people at TED have given it more gravitas than it deserves. I had been shopping around for a volunteer opportunity for a while and this one just seemed like a great fit. My surgeon never stepped foot in the store and I couldn’t have swayed him (in absence of absolute need) with all the charm in world.
Mike: my physical appearance had nothing to do with anything. That’s a super cheap cop-out of a comment.
Allison