Collaboration- changing the face of health care

My President’s Comment in the most recent issue of the BC Medical Journal focused on the importance of collaboration – between doctors, government, health authorities; all of our partners. I feel it’s a particularly relevant topic given the confrontations between our colleagues back east and their provincial governments – a situation familiar to many of us who remember the discontent more than a decade ago.
 
In the early 2000s our Association and government were locked in a major battle over issues of importance to each side, yet neither side was making any appreciable headway. However from this conflict arose a new investment in how we could cooperate in moving forward, a focus on putting our patients’ needs front and centre. This foundation created true collaboration – collaboration that, through our Joint Committees, has resulted in major improvements in patient care, in the engagement between patients and physicians, and in cost-avoidance savings. And this foundation showcases the fundamental differences in our association’s relationship with our provincial government in comparison with other provinces.
 
So is collaboration easy? No. But is it worth it? Absolutely! True collaboration fosters a positive relationship between partners – a relationship built on better understanding of one another and, most of all, on mutual respect. 
 
I often reference an old African proverb, one I truly believe: “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.”
 
To read the President’s Comment on collaboration in the BCMJ, click here.

- Dr Bill Cavers

2014-2015 President